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MINNESOTA 

TO  Ar<'OMl'ANV  . — 

W.  W.  FOLWELL'S 

MINNESOTA  in  AMERICAN  COMMONWEALTHS 


_<.7 


3lmerican  CommontDcaltt)^ 


MINNESOTA 

THE  NORTH  STAR  STATE 

BT 

WILLIAM  WATTS   FOLWELL 


BOSTON  AND   NEW    YORK 

HOUGHTON   MIFFLIN   COMPANY 

Cbc  l^iticriBiiDr  Jj^ttiii  €ambnDoc 

1908 


COPYRIGHT    I90S    BY   WILLIAM   WATTS   FOLWELL 
ALL    RIGHTS    RESERVED 


Published  October  iqo8 


F&OG 

F73  n. 


PREFACE 

If  this  compend  of  Minnesota  history  shall  be 
found  a  desirable  addition  to  those  already  before 
the  public,  it  will  be  due  to  the  good  fortune  of 
the  writer  in  reaching  original  sources  of  informa- 
tion not  accessible  to  his  predecessors. 

The  most  important  of  them  are :  the  papers  of 
Governor  Alexander  Ramsey,  in  the  possession  of 
his  daughter,  Mrs.  Marion  R.  Furness  ;  the  letter- 
books  and  papers  of  General  H.  H.  Sibley,  pre- 
served in  the  library  of  the  Minnesota  Historical 
Society ;  some  hundreds  of  letters  saved  by  Colonel 
John  H.  Stevens,  and  deposited  by  him  in  the  same 
library;  the  papers  of  Ignatius  Donnelly,  in  the 
hands  of  his  family  ;  the  great  collection  of  Green 
Bay  and  Prairie  du  Chien  papers  belonging  to 
the  Wisconsin  Historical  Society ;  the  remarkable 
group  of  early  French  documents  owned  by  the 
Chicago  Historical  Society ;  and  finally,  the  price- 
less collection  of  Minnesota  newspapers  preserved 
by  the  Minnesota  Historical  Society. 

Grateful  acknowledgments  are  offered  to  many 
citizens  who  have  given  information  out  of  their 
own  knowledge,  or  have  directed  the  writer  to  other 
sources.  Among  "old  Territorians"  who  have  ren- 


44G480 


vi  PREFACE 

dered  invaluable  aid  must  be  named  Simeon  P. 
Folsom,  John  A.  Ludden,  Joseph  W.  Wheelock, 
Benjamin  H.  Randall,  A.  L.  Larpenteur,  A.  W. 
Daniels,  John  Tapper,  and  William  Pitt  Murray. 
The  last  named  has  put  me  under  the  heaviest 
obligation. 

W.  W.  F. 

Untvebsitt  of  Minnesota, 
Minneapolis,  Minn.,  June  1, 1908. 


CONTENTS 


CHAFTBB 

FAGB 

I. 

The  French  Period  .... 

1 

II. 

The  English  Dominion  . 

29 

III. 

Minnesota  West  Annexed 

.      42 

IV. 

Fort  Snelling  Established 

64 

V. 

Explorations  and  Settlements 

.      70 

VI. 

The  Territory  Organized    . 

86 

VII. 

Territorial  Development 

.    108 

VIII. 

Transition  to  Statehood 

133 

IX. 

The  Struggle  for  Railroads 

.     159 

X. 

Arming  for  the  Civil  War 

178 

XI. 

The  Outbreak  of  the  Sioux    . 

.     190 

XII. 

The  Sioux  War      .... 

205 

XIII. 

Sequel  to  the  Indian  War     . 

.    222 

XIV. 

Honors  of  War      .... 

240 

XV. 

Revival 

.    254 

XVI. 

Storm  and  Stress 

267 

XVII. 

Clearing  Up 

.    304 

XVIII. 

Fair  Weather         .... 

333 

1    XIX. 

A  Chronicle  of  Recent  Events 

.    340 

Index 

367 

MmiS^ESOTA 


CHAPTER  I 

THE   FRENCH   PERIOD 

The  word  Minnesota  was  the  Dakota  name  for  that 
considerable  tributary  of  the  Mississippi  which,  issu- 
ing from  Big  Stone  Lake,  flows  southeastward  to 
Mankato,  turns  there  at  a  right  angle,  and  runs 
on  to  Fort  Snelling,  where  it  empties  into  the 
great  river.  It  is  a  compound  of  "  mini,"  water, 
and  "  sota,"  gray-blue  or  sky-colored.  The  name 
was  given  to  the  territory  as  established  by  act  of 
Congress  of  March  3,  1849,  and  was  retained  by 
the  state  with  her  diminished  area. 

If  one  should  travel  in  the  extension  of  the  jog 
in  the  north  boundary,  west  of  the  Lake  of  the 
Woods,  due  south,  he  could  hardly  miss  Lake 
Itasca.  If  then  he  should  embark  and  follow  the 
great  river  to  the  Iowa  line,  his  course  would  have 
divided  the  state  into  two  portions,  not  very  un- 
equal in  extent.  The  political  history  of  the  two 
parts  is  sufficiently  diverse  to  warrant  a  distinction 
between  Minnesota   East   and    Minnesota  West. 


2  MINNESOTA 

England  never  owned  west  of  the  river,  Spain 
gained  no  footliold  east  of  it.  France,  owning  on 
both  sides,  yiehled  Minnesota  East  to  England  in 
17G3,  and  sold  Minnesota  West  to  the  United 
States  in  1803.  Up  to  the  former  date,  the  whole 
area  was  part  of  New  France  and  had  no  separate 
history. 

Although  the  French  dominion  existed  for  more 
than  two  hundred  years,  it  is  not  important  for  the 
present  compendious  work  that  an  elaborate  ac- 
count be  made  of  their  explorations  and  commerce. 
They  made  no  permanent  settlement  on  Minnesota 
soil.  No  institution,  nor  monument,  nor  tradition, 
even,  has  survived  to  determine  or  affect  the  life  of 
the  commonwealth.  It  will  be  sufficient  to  summa- 
rize from  an  abounding  literature  the  successive 
stages  of  the  French  advance  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Mississippi,  their  late  and  brief  efforts  to  estab- 
lish trade  and  missions  in  the  upper  valley,  and  the 
circumstances  which  led  to  their  expulsion  from 
the  American  continent. 

It  is  now  well  knowTi  that  in  the  first  decade  of 
the  sixteenth  century  Norman  and  Breton  fisher- 
men were  taking  cod  in  Newfoundland  waters,  and 
it  is  reasonably  surmised  that  they  had  been  so  en- 
gaged before  the  Cabots,  under  English  colors,  had 
coasted  from  Labrador  towards  Cape  Cod  in  1497. 
The  French  authorities,  occupied  with  wars,  foreign 
and  domestic,  were  unable  to  participate  with  Spain, 
England,  and  Portugal  in  pioneer  explorations  be- 


THE  FRENCH  PERIOD  3 

yond  seas.  Itf  was  not  till  1534  that  Francis  I,  a 
brilliant  and  ambitious  monarch,  dispatched  Jacques 
Cartier,  a  daring  navigator,  to  explore  lands  and 
waters  reported  of  by  French  fishermen,  and,  if 
possible,  to  discover  the  long-sought  passage  to 
Cathay.  In  the  summer  of  that  j^ear  Cartier  made 
the  circuit  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  re- 
turned to  France  disappointed  of  his  main  purpose. 
His  neglect  to  enter  the  great  river  flowing  into 
the  gulf  is  unexplained.  At  two  convenient  places 
he  went  ashore  to  set  up  ceremonial  crosses  and 
proclaim  the  dominion  of  his  king.  In  the  follow- 
ing year  (1535),  on  a  second  expedition  he  ascended 
the  St.  Lawrence  River  to  the  Huron  village  Hoche- 
laga,  on  or  near  the  site  of  Montreal.  He  wintered 
in  a  fort  built  near  Quebec,  where  one  fourth  of 
his  crew  died  of  scurvy.  In  May,  1536,  after  set- 
ting up  another  cross  with  a  Latin  inscription  de- 
claring the  royal  possession,  he  sailed  away  for 
home.  Five  years  later  (1541)  Cartier  participated 
in  still  another  expedition,  which,  prosecuted  into 
a  third  year,  resulted  disastrously.  The  king  had 
spent  much  money,  but  the  passage  to  China  had 
not  been  found,  no  mines  had  been  discovered,  no 
colony  had  been  planted,  no  heathen  converted. 

Throughout  the  remainder  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury the  French  kings  were  too  much  engrossed  in 
great  religious  wars,  fierce  and  bloody  beyond  be- 
lief but  for  existing  proofs,  to  give  thought  or 
effort    to  extendinc:  their    dominion    in   the    New 


4  MINNESOTA 

World.  The  treaty  of  Vervins  with  Spain  and  the 
Edict  of  Nantes,  both  occurring  in  1598,  gave 
France  an  interval  of  peace  within  and  without. 
Henry  IV  ("Henry  of  Navarje")  at  once  turned 
his  eyes  to  the  coasts  of  America,  on  which  as  yet 
no  Europeans  had  made  any  permanent  settle- 
ments. His  activity  took  the  form  of  patronizing  a 
series  of  trading  voyages.  On  one  of  these,  which 
sailed  in  1603,  he  sent  Samuel  Champlain,  then 
about  thirty-five  years  of  age,  a  gallant  soldier 
and  an  experienced  navigator.  He  had  already 
visited  the  West  Indies  and  the  Isthmus  of  Darien, 
and  in  his  journal  of  the  voyage  had  foreshadowed 
the  Panama  Canal.  He  was  now  particularly 
charged  with  reporting  on  explorations  and  dis- 
coveries. On  this  voyage  Champlain  ascended  the 
St.  Lawrence  to  Montreal  and  vainly  attempted  to 
surmount  the  Lachine  Rapids.  On  the  return  of 
the  expedition  in  September  of  the  same  year, 
Champlain  laid  before  the  king  a  report  and  map. 
They  gave  such  satisfaction  as  to  lead  to  a  similar 
appointment  on  an  expedition  sent  out  the  follow- 
ing year.  For  three  years  Champlain  was  occupied 
in  exploring  and  charting  the  coasts  of  Nova  Scotia 
and  New  England,  a  thousand  miles  or  thereabout. 
In  1608  he  went  out  in  the  capacity  of  lieutenant- 
governor  of  New  France,  a  post  occupied  for  the 
remaining  twenty-seven  years  of  his  life,  with  the 
exception  of  a  brief  interval.  On  July  3  he  staked 
out  the  first  plat  of  Quebec.  His  trifling  official 


THE  FRENCH  PERIOD  5 

eno-agements  left  him  ample  leisure  to  prosecute 
those  explorations  on  which  his  heart  was  set ;  chief 
of  them  the  road  to  China. 

In  1609,  to  gain  assistance  of  the  Indians  in  his 
neighborhood,  he  joined  them  in  a  war-party  to  the 
head  of  the  lake  to  which  he  then  gave  his  name. 
A  single  volley  from  the  muskets  of  himself  and 
two  other  Frenchmen  put  the  Iroquois,  as  yet  un- 
provided with  firearms,  to  headlong  rout.  Six  years 
later  he  led  a  large  force  of  Hurons  from  their 
homes  in  upper  Canada  between  Lake  Simcoe  and 
Georgian  Bay,  across  Lake  Ontario,  to  be  defeated 
by  the  well-fortified  Iroquois.  The  notes  of  his 
expedition  added  the  Ottawa  River,  Lake,  Nipis- 
sing,  the  French  River,  Lake  Huron,  and  Lake 
Ontario  to  his  map.  Could  Champlain  have  fore- 
seen the  disasters  to  follow  for  New  France  and  the 
Huron  nation,  he  would  not  have  made  the  Iroquois 
his  and  their  implacable  enemy.  He  made  no  fur- 
ther journeys  westward  in  person,  but  adopted  a 
plan  of  sending  out  young  men,  whom  he  had  put 
to  school  among  native  tribes,  to  learn  their  lan- 
guages and  gather  their  traditions  and  surmises  as 
to  regions  yet  unvisited.  One  of  them,  Etienne 
Brule,  who  had  been  his  interpreter  on  the  second 
expedition  against  the  Iroquois,  and  detached  be- 
fore the  battle  on  an  embassy  to  an  Indian  tribe, 
did  not  return  till  after  three  years  of  extensive 
wanderings.  He  showed  a  chunk  of  copper  which  he 
declared  he  had  brought  from  the  shore  of  a  great 


6  minnp:sota 

lake  far  to  the  west,  nine  days'  journey  in  length, 
which  discharged  over  a  waterfall  into  Lake  Huron. 

In  1634  another  of  Chainj)lain's  api)rentices,  Jean 
Nicollet  by  name,  passed  through  the  Straits  of 
Mackinaw  and  penetrated  to  the  head  of  Green  Bay 
and  possibly  farther.  He  may  have  been  at  the 
Sault  Sainte  Marie.  So  confident  was  he  of  reach- 
ing China  that  he  took  with  him  a  gorgeous  manda- 
rin's robe  of  damask  to  wear  at  his  court  reception. 
Attired  in  it  he  addressed  the  gaping  Winnebagoes, 
putting  a  climax  on  his  peroration  by  firing  his 
pistols.  Champlain's  map  of  1632  showed  his  con- 
jectured Lake  Michigan  north  of  Lake  Huron. 
Nicollet  gave  it  its  proper  location. 

Champlain's  stormy  career  closed  at  Christmas, 
1635.  The  honorable  title  of  "Father  of  New 
France"  rightly  belongs  to  him,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  in  none  of  his  great  plans  had  he  achieved 
success.  He  had  not  found  the  road  to  the  Indies, 
the  savages  remained  in  the  power  of  the  devil,  and 
no  self-supporting  settlement  had  been  planted, 
Quebec's  population  did  not  exceed  two  hundred, 
soldiers,  priests,  fur-traders  and  their  dependents. 
There  was  but  one  settler  cultivating  the  soil. 

Exploration  languished  after  Champlain's  death, 
and  for  a  generation  was  only  incidentally  prose- 
cuted by  missionaries  and  traders.  In  1641  two 
Jesuit  fathers,  Jogues  and  Raymbault,  traveled  to 
the  Sault  Sainte  Marie,  and  gave  the  first  reliable 
account  of  the  ffreat  lake. 


THE  FRENCH   PERIOD  7 

From  the  earliest  lodgments  of  white  men  on  the 
St.  Lawrence  the  fur-trade  assumed  an  importance 
far  greater  than  the  primitive  fisheries.  In  the  sev- 
enteenth century  the  fashion  of  fur-wearing  spread 
widely  among  the  wealthier  people  of  Europe.  The 
beaver  hat  had  superseded  the  Milan  bonnet.  No 
furs  were  in  greater  request  than  those  gathered  in 
the  Canadian  forests.  A  chief  reason  for  the  long 
delay  of  cultivation  in  the  French  settlements  was 
the  profit  to  be  won  by  ranging  for  furs.  Montreal, 
founded  in  1642  as  a  mission  station,  not  long  after 
became,  by  reason  of  its  location  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Ottawa,  the  entrepot  of  the  western  trade.  The 
business  took  on  a  simple  and  effective  organiza- 
tion. Responsible  merchants  provided  the  outfit,  a 
canoe,  guns,  powder  and  lead,  hulled  corn  and  tal- 
low for  subsistence,  and  an  assortment  of  cheap 
and  tawdry  merchandise.  Late  in  the  summer  the 
"  coureurs  des  bois  "  set  out  for  the  wilderness. 
Those  bound  for  the  west  traveled  by  the  Ottawa 
route  in  lai-ge  companies,  for  better  defense  against 
skulking  Iroquois.  On  reaching  Lake  Huron,  they 
broke  up,  each  crew  departing  to  its  favorite  haunts. 

The  chances  for  large  profits  naturally  attracted 
to  this  primitive  commerce  some  men  of  talent  and 
ambition.  In  1656  two  such  came  down  to  IMont- 
real  piloting  a  flotilla  of  fifty  Ottawa  canoes  deeply 
laden  with  precious  furs.  They  had  been  absent 
for  two  years,  had  traveled  five  hundred  leagues 
from    home,  and    hatl    heard  of  various    nations. 


8  MINNESOTA 

amonj;  thom  tlic  "  Nadouesiouek."  The  author  of 
the  Jesuit  Jielation  for  the  year  speaks  of  them  as 
"  two  young  Frenchmen,  full  of  courage,"  and  as 
the  "  two  young  pilgrims,"  hut  suppresses  their 
names.  Again,  in  IGGO  two  Frenchmen  reach  Mont- 
real from  the  upper  countries,  with  three  hundred 
Algonquins  in  sixty  canoes  loaded  with  furs  worth 
$40,000.  The  Journal  of  the  Jesuit  fathers  gives 
the  name  of  one  of  them  as  of  a  person  of  conse- 
quence, Des  Groseilliers ;  and  says  of  him,  "Des 
Grosillers  wintered  with  the  nation  of  the  Ox  .  .  . 
they  are  sedentery  Nadwesseronons." 

The  two  Frenchmen  of  1660  are  now  believed 
to  have  been  Medard  Chouart,  Sieur  des  Groseil- 
liers, and  Pierre  d'Esprit,  Sieur  de-  Radisson,  both 
best  known  by  their  titles.  The  latter  was  the 
younger  man,  and  brother  to  Groseilliers'  second 
wife.  In  1885  the  Prince  Society  of  Boston  printed 
250  copies  of  the  "  Voyages  of  Peter  Esprit  Eadis- 
son,"  written  by  liim  in  English.  The  manuscript 
had  lain  in  the  Bodleian  Library  of  Oxford  Uni- 
versity for  nearly  two  hundred  years.  No  doubt 
has  been  raised  as  to  its  authenticity.  While  the 
accounts  of  the  different  voyages  are  not  free  from 
exaggerations,  not  to  say  outright  fabrications,  the 
reader  will  be  satisfied  that  tlie  writer  in  the  main 
told  a  true  story  of  the  wanderings  and  transactions 
of  himself  and  comrade.  These  two  men  a  few 
years  later  went  over  to  the  English  and  became 
the  promoters  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 


THE   FRENCH   PERIOD  9 

If  Radisson's  story  be  true,  he  and  Groseilliers 
were  the  first  white  men  to  tread  the  soil  of  Minne- 
sota.  As  he  tells  it,  the  two  left  Montreal  in  the 
month  of  August  (1G58),  and  after  much  trouble 
with  the  "Iroquoits"  along  the  Ottawa,  reached 
the  Sault  Sainte  Marie,  where  they  "  made  good 
cheare  "  of  whitefish.  Embarking  late  in  the  same 
season,  they  went  along  "  the  most  delightful  and 
wonderous  coasts "  of  Lake  Superior,  passed  the 
Pictured  Rocks,  portaged  over  Keweenaw  Point, 
and  made  their  way  to  the  head  of  Chequamegon 
Bay.  Here  the}'^  built  a  "  fort "  of  stakes  in  two 
days,  which  was  much  admired  by  the  wild  men. 
Having  cached  a  part  of  their  goods,  they  pro- 
ceeded inland  to  a  Huron  village  on  a  lake  believed 
to  be  Lake  Courte  Oreille,  in  Sawyer  County,  Wis- 
consin, where  they  were  received  with  great  cere- 
mony. At  the  first  snowfall  the  people  departed 
for  their  winter  hunt,  and  appointed  a  rendezvous 
after  two  months  and  a  half.  Before  leaving  the 
village  the  Frenchmen  sent  messengers  "  to  all 
manner  of  persons  and  nations,"  inviting  them  to 
a  feast  at  which  presents  would  be  distributed.  The 
best  guess  locates  this  rendezvous  on  or  near  Knife 
Lake,  in  Kanabec  County,  Minnesota.  That  was 
then  Sioux  country,  and  the  people  thereabout 
were  long  after  known  as  Isantis  or  Knife  Sioux, 
probably  because  they  got  their  first  steel  knives 
from  these  Frenchmen.  While  at  their  rendez- 
vous ei<rht  "  ambassadors  from  the  nation  of  the 


10  MINNESOTA 

Beef e "  (i.  e.  Buffalo,  of  course)  came  to  give 
notice  that  a  great  number  of  their  people  would 
assemble  for  the  coming  feast.  They  brought  a  cal- 
umet "  of  red  stone  as  big  as  a  fist  and  as  long  as 
a  hand."  Each  ambassador  was  attended  by  two 
wives  carrying  wild  rice  and  Indian  corn  as  a  pre- 
sent. For  the  feast  a  great  concourse  of  Algonquin 
tribes  gathered  and  prepared  a  "  fort  "  six  hundred 
paces  square,  obviously  a  mere  corral  of  poles  and 
brush.  A  "  foreguard "  of  thirty  young  Sioux, 
"  all  proper  men,"  heralded  the  coming  of  the  eld- 
ers of  their  village,  who  arrived  next  day  "with 
incredible  pomp."  Grand  councils  were  held,  fol- 
lowed by  feasting,  dancing,  mimic  battles,  and 
games  of  many  sorts,  including  the  greased  pole. 
As  described,  this  was  no  casual  assemblage,  but 
a  great  and  extraordinary  convocation.  It  lasted  a 
fortnight. 

The  two  Frenchmen  now  made  seven  small  jour- 
neys "to  return  the  visit  of  the  Sioux,  and  found 
themselves  in  a  town  of  great  cabins  covered  with 
skins  and  mats,  in  a  country  without  wood  and 
where  corn  was  grown."  The  account  of  this  six 
weeks'  trip  is  brief  and  indefinite.  The  conjecture 
that  Groseilliers  and  Radisson  traveled  a  hundred 
and  fifty  miles,  more  or  less,  into  the  prairie  region 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  either  by  way  of  the  Minne- 
sota or  the  Crow  Wing  rivers,  has  slight  support. 
The  account  may  have  been  invented  from  infor- 
mation obtained  of  the  Sioux  at  the  convocation. 


THE  FRENCH   PERIOD  11 

In  the  early  spring  of  1660  the  two  adventurers 
returned  to  Chequamegon  Bay,  whence  they  con- 
tinued to  Montreal  without  notable  incident.  In 
his  narrative  Radisson  injects  after  the  return  from 
the  nation  of  the  Beefe  a  story  of  an  excursion  to 
Hudson's  Bay,  occupying  a  year,  which  is  probably 
fictitious.  The  time  occupied  by  the  whole  journey 
is  well  known  and  could  not  have  included  a  trip 
to  the  "  Bay  of  the  North."  Still,  it  is  reasonably 
certain  that  Groseilliers  and  Radisson  were  in 
Minnesota  twenty  years  before  Duluth. 

The  reader  will  have  already  inquired  whether 
the  two  young  Frenchmen  of  1G54-5G,  unnamed, 
might  not  have  been  the  same  with  these  of  1658— 
60.  This  inquiry  was  frequently  made  before  the 
discovery  of  Radisson's  narrative.  The  question 
was  settled  by  that  document.  Radisson  gives  a 
separate  and  circumstantial  account  of  a  three 
years'  journey  of  trade  and  exploration  to  the  west 
taken  by  himself  and  his  brother-in-law  in  1654. 
Leaving  Montreal  in  the  summer  of  that  year, 
Groseilliers  and  Radisson,  as  the  story  runs,  taking 
the  usual  Ottawa  River  route,  reached  the  Straits 
of  Mackinaw  in  the  early  fall.  They  passed  the 
winter  about  Green  Bay,  Wisconsin.  The  follow- 
ing summer  they  coasted  Lake  ]\Iichigan  and  pro- 
ceeded southward  through  a  country  "incomparable, 
though  mighty  hot,"  to  the  shores  of  a  great  sea. 
They  found  "  a  barril  broken,  as  they  use  in 
Spaine."  They  passed  the  summer  on  "  the  shore 


12  MINNESOTA 

of  the  Great  sea."  Returning  to  the  north,  they 
spent  a  winter  with  the  Ottawas  on  the  upper 
Michigan  peninsula.  As  the  excursion  to  Hudson's 
Bay  already  mentioned  was  a  fiction,  so  is  this  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  traders  could  not  have 
been  absent  from  the  French  settlement  more  than 
two  yeai's.  It  is  in  the  early  spring  of  1655,  there- 
fore, that  we  find  them  setting  out  from  their 
winter  quarters  to  countries  more  remote.  The 
essence  of  Radisson's  text  is  as  follows:  "We  .  .  . 
thwarted  a  land  of  all  most  fifty  leagues.  .  .  .  We 
arrived,  some  150  of  us  men  and  women,  to  a 
river-side,  where  we  stayed  3  weeks  making  boats. 
.  .  .  We  went  up  ye  river  8  days  till  we  came  to  a 
nation  called  .  .  .  the  Scratchers.  There  we  gott 
some  Indian  meale  and  corne  .  .  .  which  lasted 
us  till  we  came  to  the  first  landing  Isle.  There  we 
weare  well  received  againe." 

Upon  this  indefinite  passage  has  been  put  the 
following  interpretation.  The  land  journey  of  fifty 
leagues  (about  one  hundred  and  forty  miles)  took 
the  traders  to  the  east  bank  of  the  Mississippi  near 
the  southeast  corner  of  Minnesota,  where  they 
built  boats;  the  nation  who  furnished  provisions 
resided  about  the  site  of  Winona,  and  the  "  first 
landing  Isle "  was  Prairie  Island,  between  Red 
Wing  and  Hastings.  If  this  interpretation  shall 
at  length  be  confirmed,  Groseilliers  and  Radisson 
were  in  Minnesota  twenty-four  years  before  Du- 
luth.  Subsequent  passages  of  the  narrative  lend  it 
some  support. 


THE  FRENCH   PERIOD  13 

These  able  and  enterprising  characters  deserve, 
however,  not  the  least  degree  of  credit  as  explorers. 
If  they  saw  the  Mississippi  and  in  the  later  voyage 
penetrated  beyond  the  Big  Woods,  they  studiously 
concealed  their  knowledge.  They  left  no  maps,  and 
for  no  assignable  reason  suppressed  a  discovery 
which  would  have  given  them  a  world-wide  fame. 

When  Cardinal  Mazarin  died,  in  1661,  Louis 
XIV,  then  twenty-two  years  of  age,  stepped  on  to 
the  stage,  "every  inch  a  king."  He  willingly  lis- 
tened to  the  suggestion  of  Colbert,  his  new  min- 
ister, that  it  was  time  for  France  to  follow  English 
example  and  establish  a  colonial  system  for  profit 
and  glory.  The  Company  of  New  France,  pro- 
moted by  Richelieu,  which  for  nearly  forty  years 
had  governed  Canada,  were  quite  content  to  sur- 
render their  franchises.  In  1663  the  colony  was 
made  a  royal  province.  Associated  with  the  gov- 
ernor a  so-called  "  intendant  of  justice  and  finance" 
was  provided  in  the  new  administration.  The  first 
incumbent  was  Jean  Baptiste  Talon,  a  man  of 
brains,  energy,  and  ambition.  lie  was  no  sooner 
on  the  ground  than  he  began  to  conceive  great 
projects  for  extending  the  French  dominion,  ex- 
panding connnerce,  and  fostering  settlements. 
Colbert,  although  he  sympathized,  was  obliged  to 
restrain  him  and  suggest  that  "  the  King  would 
never  depopulate  France  to  people  Canada." 

Kumors  were  multiplying  of  great  openings  for 


14  MINNESOTA 

trade  and  missions  along  and  beyond  the  great 
lakes.  Talon  was  keen  to  follow  up  and  verify  them. 
In  1GG5  the  Jesuit  Father  Claude  Allouez  estab- 
lished a  mission  at  La  Pointe  on  Chequamegon 
Bay.  Upon  an  excursion  to  the  head  of  the  lake 
(Superior)  he  saw  some  of  the  Nadouessiouek 
(Sioux)  Indians,  dwellers  toward  the  great  liiver 
Mississippi,  in  a  country  of  prairies.  They  gave 
him  some  "  marsh  rye,"  as  he  called  their  wild  rice. 
Four  years  later  Father  Jacques  Marquette 
succeeded  Allouez  in  that  mission.  He  also  heard 
stories  of  a  great  river  flowing  to  a  sea,  on  which 
canoes  with  wings  might  be  seen.  The  Jesuit  Rela- 
tion of  1670-71  gives  reports  from  Indians  of  a 
great  river  which  "  for  more  than  three  hundred 
leagues  from  its  mouth  is  wider  than  the  St.  Law- 
rence at  Quebec ; "  and  people  dwelling  near  its 
mouth  "have  houses  on  the  water  and  cut  down 
trees  with  large  knives."  In  the  summer  of  1669, 
Louis  Joliet,  whom  Talon  had  sent  to  Lake  Su- 
perior to  search  for  copper,  returned,  and  it  was 
then,  probably  on  his  suggestion,  that  Talon  re- 
solved that  it  was  time  for  the  French  to  plant  a 
military  station  at  the  Sault  Sainte  Marie,  a  point 
of  notable  strategic  importance.  He  determined 
also  to  make  an  impression  of  French  power  on  the 
Indians  of  the  West.  In  the  following  year  he  dis- 
patched Nicholas  Perrot,  of  whom  we  are  to  hear 
later,  to  summon  the  Pottawattamies,  the  Winne- 
bagoes,  and  other  accessible  nations  to  a  grand 


THE  FRENCH  PERIOD  15 

convocation  at  the  Sault  Sainte  Marie  in  the  spring 
of  1671.  To  represent  the  government,  Simon 
Francois  Daumont,  Sieur  de  St.  Lusson,  was  com- 
missioned and  took  his  journey  in  October,  1670. 

On  the  14th  of  June,  1671,  the  appointed  day, 
the  council  was  held.  Fourteen  Indian  nations  were 
represented.  Among  the  French  present  were  Joliet, 
Father  Allouez,  and  Perrot.  The  central  act  was 
the  proclamation  by  St.  Lusson  of  King  Louis's  do- 
minion over  "  lakes  Huron  and  Superior,  ...  all 
countries,  rivers,  lakes  and  streams,  contiguous  and 
adjacent  thereto,  with  those  that  have  been  dis- 
covered, and  those  which  may  be  discovered  here- 
after, .  .  .  bounded  by  the  seas  of  the  north,  west, 
and  south."  This  modest  claim  covered  perhaps 
nine  tenths  of  North  America.  As  usual,  a  big 
wooden  cross  was  erected  and  blest.  A  metallic 
plate  bearing  the  king's  arms  was  nailed  up,  and  a 
" proces- verbal "  drawn  and  signed.  In  that  day 
such  a  proclamation  gave  title  to  barbarian  lands 
until  annulled  in  battle  by  land  or  sea.  Father 
Allouez  made  a  speech,  which  has  been  preserved, 
describing  the  power  and  glory  of  the  French  king 
in  extravagant  terms. 

Talon  could  not  rest.  He  was  on  fire  to  unlock 
the  secret  of  the  srreat  river  and  extend  the  French 
dominion  to  the  unknown  sea  into  which  it  might 
empty.  In  1672,  with  the  approval  of  Colbert,  he 
planned  an  expedition  to  penetrate  the  region  in 
which  it  was  supposed  to  flow.  Joliet  was  chosen 


16  MINNESOTA 

to  lead,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  he  was  at 
Mackinaw.  It  was  j)i-obably  no  accident  that  Pere 
Marquette  had  just  been  transferred  from  La 
Pointe  to  that  station.  But  the  enthusiastic  intend- 
ant  was  to  ch)se  his  Canadian  career.  In  the  very 
same  year  Count  Frontenac,  the  greatest  figure  in 
Canadian  history,  came  over  to  be  governor.  He 
was  already  past  fifty,  had  seen  many  campaigns, 
and  had  wasted  his  fortune  at  court.  He,  too,  had 
ideas,  and  an  ambition  to  do  great  things  for  Canada 
and  France.  There  was  not  room  enough  in  the 
province  for  two  such  men  as  Talon  and  he.  The 
intendant  obtained  his  recall,  and  disappeared  from 
the  scene. 

Frontenac  at  once  adopted  Talon's  scheme,  and 
gave  Joliet  leave  to  go.  Accompanied  by  Marquette 
he  struck  the  great  river  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  June 
17,  1673,  and  then  followed  its  flow  far  enough  to 
satisfy  himself  that  it  ran  to  the  Mexican  gulf. 
Joliet's  great  map  has  a  truly  modern  aspect.  The 
importance  of  this  discovery  of  the  Mississippi 
for  the  present  purpose  is,  that  it  was  by  way  of 
the  great  river  that  the  French,  with  a  notable  ex- 
ception, pushed  their  way  into  Minnesota. 

A  company  of  Canadian  merchants  resolved  to 
attempt  an  opening  of  trade  about  and  beyond  the 
head  of  Lake  Superior,  and  selected  as  their  agent 
Daniel  Greyloson,  the  Sieur  Duluth,  a  man  of 
ability  and  enterprise.  He  evidently  received  some 
kind  of  public  character  from  Frontenac,  whose 


THE  FRENCH  PERIOD  17 

enemies  insinuated  that  he  was  to  be  a  sharer  in 
profits.  In  the  spring  of  1679  Duluth  penetrated 
to  the  shores  of  Mille  Lacs,  and  in  a  great  Sioux 
village  which  he  understood  to  be  called  "Kathio," 
on  July  2  he  planted  the  king's  arms  and  took  pos- 
session in  the  royal  name.  Duluth,  therefore,  was 
the  first  white  man  in  Minnesota  not  ashamed  to 
report  and  record  the  fact.  In  the  same  season  he 
retraced  his  steps  to  the  head  of  the  lake,  and 
passed  down  the  north  shore  to  Pigeon  River,  which 
forms  part  of  the  Canadian  boundary.  There, 
on  the  left  bank  of  that  river,  he  built  a  trading 
post,  on  the  site  afterwards  occupied  by  Fort 
William. 

The  next  dash  into  the  territory  of  the  North 
Star  State  was  directed  by  one  who  has  been  called 
the  most  picturesque  figure  in  American  history, 
Il6n6  Robert  Cavalier,  Sieur  de  la  Salle.  At  the 
age  of  twenty -three  he  broke  away  from  the  Jesuits 
with  whom  he  was  in  training,  and  set  sail  for 
Canada  with  four  hundred  francs  in  his  pocket,  in 
the  year  1663.  When  Frontenac  came,  nine  years 
later,  he  found  in  young  La  Salle  a  man  after  his 
own  heart,  and  sent  him  to  France  in  1674  to  secure 
royal  support  for  further  explorations.  Such  sup- 
poi't,  then  withheld,  was  vouchsafed  four  years 
later,  when  La  Salle  was  again  in  Paris  on  the 
same  errand.  By  a  royal  patent  signed  May  12, 
1678,  La  Salle  was  authorized  to  extend  the  scope 
of  Joliet's  exploration  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and 


18  MINNESOTA 

to  pay  his  expenses  by  trade,  provided  he  kept  off 
the  preserves  of  the  Montreal  traders. 

With  the  king's  patent  in  hand,  it  was  easy  to  at- 
tract capital  and  enlist  volunteers.  Early  in  the  fall 
of  the  same  year,  La  Salle  was  back  in  Canada  with 
his  men  and  outfit,  and  soon  set  out  for  the  west. 
After  battling  with  a  series  of  delays  and  discourage- 
ments which  need  not  be  narrated,  the  undaunted 
leader  established  himself  in  a  fort  built  on  the  east 
bank  of  the  Illinois  River,  near  Peoria,  Illinois,  in 
the  winter  of  1680.  There  is  no  record  that  La  Salle 
had  been  authorized  to  explore  the  upper  Missis- 
sippi, but  he  was  not  the  man  to  lose  a  good  op- 
portunity for  lack  of  technical  instructions.  To 
lead  an  exploring  party  up  that  stream  he  chose 
Michael  Accault,  an  experienced  voyageur,  "  pru- 
dent, bi-ave,  and  cool,"  and  gave  him  two  associates: 
Antoine  Auguelle,  called  the  Picard  du  Gay,  was 
one ;  the  other  was  the  now  famous  Father  Louis 
Hennepin,  a  Franciscan  friar  of  the  Recollet  branch, 
who  came  over  in  the  same  ship  with  La  Salle  in 
1678.  He  had  wandered  in  many  lands,  knew  some 
Indian  dialects,  and  shared  La  Salle's  passion  for 
adventure. 

In  a  bark  canoe  laden  with  their  arms,  personal 
belongings,  and  some  packs  of  merchandise  which 
served  for  money  between  whites  and  Indians,  the 
little  party  set  out,  after  priestly  benediction,  on 
February  28, 1680.  They  dropped  down  the  Illinois 
to  its  mouth,  and  took  their  toilsome  way  against 


THE   FRENCH   PERIOD  19 

the  current  of  the  Mississippi.  On  April  11,  when 
near  the  southern  line  of  Minnesota,  they  encoun- 
tered a  fleet  of  thirty-three  canoes  carrying  a  war- 
party  intent  on  mischief  to  certain  Illinois  tribes. 
The  savages  frightened  but  did  not  harm  the 
Frenchmen.  Accault  was  able  to  inform  them  that 
the  Illinois  Indians  had  crossed  the  river  to  hunt. 
They  therefore  turned  homewards,  taking  the  ex- 
plorers with  them.  At  the  end  of  the  month  the 
flotilla  rounded  up,  as  is  believed,  at  the  mouth  of 
Phalen's  Creek,  at  St.  Paul.  Here  they  abandoned 
their  canoes  and  set  out  overland  by  a  trail  which 
would  naturally  follow  the  divide  between  the  waters 
of  the  Mississippi  and  the  St.  Croix,  for  their  vil- 
lages on  Mille  Lacs.  On  May  5  they  arrived,  and 
the  Frenchmen,  compelled  to  sell  their  effects  to 
their  captors,  were  sent  to  separate  villages.  The 
friar  lost  his  portable  altar  and  brocade  vestments ; 
otherwise  they  were  not  unkindly  treated.  Some 
weeks  passed,  when  Hennepin  and  Auguelle  were 
allowed  to  take  a  canoe  antl  start  for  the  mouth  of 
the  Wisconsin,  where  La  Salle  promised  to  send 
supplies.  Accault  preferred  to  join  a  great  hunting 
party  that  was  about  setting  out.  Hennepin  and 
his  comrade  left  the  hunters  at  the  mouth  of  Kum 
River,  and  paddling  with  the  current  soon  found 
themselves  at  the  falls  called  by  the  Dakotas 
Mi-ni-i-ha-ha,  the  rusliing  water,  then  first  seen 
by  white  men,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  his 
patron  saint,  Anthony  of  Padua.   His  description 


20  MINNESOTA 

of  the  cataract  and  surroundings  is  reasonably  ac- 
curate, althougli  he  greatly  exaggerated  its  height. 
No  rival  has  claimed  the  credit  of  their  discovery. 
Passing  on  down  the  river,  they  met  an  Indian  who 
informed  them  that  the  hunting  party  was  not  far 
away,  on  some  tributary.  They  abandoned  their 
lonesome  journey  and  joined  the  hunters,  who,  the 
hunt  over,  were  about  returning  to  their  villages. 

We  left  Duluth  in  his  fort  at  the  mouth  of 
Pigeon  River  in  the  fall  of  1679.  He  wintered 
there,  and,  as  he  relates,  dissatisfied  with  his  dis- 
coveries of  the  previous  summer,  resolved  on  a  new 
adventure.  When  the  season  of  1680  opened  he  set 
out  with  four  Frenchmen  and  two  Indian  guides, 
ascended  the  Bois  Brule  River,  portaged  over  to 
the  head  of  the  St.  Croix,  and  followed  that  down 
to  Point  Douglass,  where  he  doubtless  recognized 
the  great  river.  Here  he  learned  that  but  a  short 
time  before  two  Frenchmen  had  passed  down  in  a 
canoe.  He  instantly  followed,  and  after  forty- 
eight  hours  of  lively  paddling  met  the  Sioux  hunt- 
ers and  with  them  Accault,  Auguelle,  and  Henne- 
pin. All  the  French  now  traveled  with  the  Indians 
to  their  villages  on  Mille  Lacs,  this  time  uj)  the 
Mississippi  and  Rum  rivers.  The  season  was  now 
far  advanced  and  Duluth  was  obliged  to  give  up 
his  project  of  a  journey  to  "  the  ocean  of  the  west," 
which  he  believed  to  be  not  more  than  twenty  days' 
march  distant.  Furnished  with  a  rude  but  truthful 
map  sketched  by  one  of  the  Sioux  chiefs,  and  pro- 


THE   FRENCH   PERIOD  21 

mising  the  Indians  to  return  to  trade,  the  eight 
white  men  took  their  departure  for  home  by  Prai- 
rie du  Chien  and  Green  Bay.  Hennepin  returned 
to  France  and  in  1682  published  his  "  Description 
of  Louisiana."  He  knew  how  to  tell  an  interesting 
story,  and  stuck  as  close  to  the  truth  as  most  annal- 
ists of  his  day.  He  assumed  to  have  been  the  leader 
of  the  exploring  party.  Fifteen  years  later  there 
was  published  in  Holland  a  book  under  the  title  of 
"  A  New  Discovery  of  a  Great  Country."  It  con- 
tained all  the  matter  of  Hennepin's  "  Description," 
and  some  one  hundred  and  fifty  pages  more.  These 
interpolated  into  the  original  story  a  journey  of 
more  than  three  thousand  miles  in  thirty  days,  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and 
back,  before  ascending  the  Mississippi.  If  Henne- 
pin himself  wrote  the  injected  pages,  he  was  the 
shameless  liar  which  he  has  been  frequently  de- 
clared to  be.  There  is  room,  however,  for  the 
,  suggestion  that  the  added  pages  were  the  work  of 
some  literary  hack  employed  by  dishonest  publish- 
ers to  give  the  book  the  appearance  of  a  new  one  ; 
but  a  good  degree  of  charity  is  necessary  to  enter- 
tain this  theory,  as  there  is  no  record  of  any  dis- 
avowal by  Hennepin.  Granting  Hennepin  to  have 
been  the  leader,  it  must  be  remembered  he  was  an 
agent  of  La  Salle.  La  Salle's  foresight  and  enter- 
prise sent  him  to  the  land  of  the  Dakotas  and  to 
the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony. 

It  was  not  till  the  winter  of  1682  that  La  Salle 


22  MINNESOTA 

was  able  to  embark  from  his  fort  at  Peoria.  Sixty 
days  of  easy  canoe  navigation  brought  him  to  one  of 
the  islands  at  tlie  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  There 
in  the  month  of  April,  under  his  royal  patent,  he  set 
up  a  cross  and  proclaimed  the  sovereignty  of  Louis 
le  Grand  over  the  whole  valley  of  the  great  river 
and  all  its  tributaries.  On  the  "  procfes-verbal "  of 
that  transaction  rests  every  land  title  in  Minnesota. 
Duluth  and  La  Salle  by  means  of  Accault's  re- 
ports revealed  to  Count  Frontenac  the  magnificence 
of  the  upper  Mississippi  region,  and  Father  Henne- 
pin's book,  dedicated  to  the  king,  seems  to  have 
inspired  Louis  XIV  with  a  desire  to  occupy  and 
possess  that  goodly  land.  In  1686  the  able  and 
experienced  Nicholas  Perrot,  who  had  been  ap- 
pointed commandant  of  the  west  with  orders  to 
make  an  establishment  there,  built  a  fort  on  the 
east  bank  of  Lake  Pepin,  and  called  it  Fort  St. 
Antoine.  The  site  has  been  clearly  identified  about 
two  miles  below  the  "  Burlington  "  railroad  station 
of  Stockholm,  Pepin  County,  "Wisconsin.  Sum- 
moned the  following  year  to  lead  a  contingent  of 
voyageurs  and  savages  in  the  campaign  against 
the  Iroquois  in  the  Genesee  valley  of  western  New 
York,  he  did  not  return  to  Fort  St.  Antoine  till 
late  in  1688.  To  satisfy  any  lingering  doubts  about 
the  legitimate  sovereignty  of  those  parts,  he  made 
formal  proclamation  of  his  king's  lordship  over  all 
the  countries  and  rivers  he  had  seen  and  would  see. 
Perrot  was  too  useful  a  man  to  be  left  in  the  wil- 


THE   FRENCH   PERIOD  23 

derness,  and  was  presently  ordered  on  other  ser- 
vice and  liis  fort  left  empty. 

Another  attempt  at  settlement  on  the  upper 
Mississippi  was  made  by  a  Canadian,  Pierre  Le 
Sueur,  an  associate  of  Perrot,  who  in  1694  estab- 
lished a  trading  post  on  Prairie  Island  in  the  Mis- 
sissippi, about  nine  miles  below  Hastings,  the  same 
on  which  Groseilliers  and  Radisson  are  imagined  to 
have  camped  in  1655.  Le  Sueur  stayed  over  one 
winter  in  the  west,  and  returned  to  Montreal  to 
discover  to  Frontenac  a  new  project.  lie  had  lo- 
cated a  copper  mine.  He  hastened  to  Paris  to  ob- 
tain the  king's  license,  then  necessary  for  mining 
operations.  After  a  struggle  of  two  years  he  got  his 
permit  and  started  for  Canada.  The  English  caught 
him  and  held  him  a  prisoner  for  some  months. 
Returning  to  France,  he  found  his  license  canceled, 
because  of  a  resolution  of  the  government  to  aban- 
don all  trade  west  of  Mackinaw.  At  length  Le 
Sueur  was  excepted  from  the  rule  and  his  license 
renewed.  In  1699  he  sailed  with  the  expedition  of 
D'lberville,  which  was  to  make  and  did  make  the 
first  settlement  out  of  which  New  Orleans  grew. 

In  the  midsummer  following  he  made  his  way 
with  a  sailboat  and  two  canoes  up  the  Mississippi, 
reaching  Fort  Snelling  September  19.  He  doubt- 
less knew  where  he  was  going,  for  without  delay  he 
turned  into  the  Minnesota  River,  which  he  followed 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Mah-ka-to  or  Blue  Earth.  A 
short    distance  above,  the  latter  stream    receives 


24  MINNESOTA 

the  Le  Sneiir.  At  their  junction  he  built  a  fort  to 
which  he  gave  the  name  of  a  treasury  official  of 
Paris  who  had  supported  him,  "Fort  L'lluillier." 
The  spot  has  been  identified  by  a  local  archaeolo- 
gist. He  was  obliged  to  pacify  with  presents  the 
Sioux  who  were  displeased  because  he  did  not 
build  at  the  mouth  of  the  Minnesota.  His  company 
passed  a  comfortable  winter,  but  before  it  was  over 
they  had  to  come  down  to  buffalo  beef  without 
salt.  Some  of  them  could  put  away  six  pounds 
along  with  four  bowls  of  broth  daily.  In  the  spring 
Le  Sueur  departed  for  Biloxi,  with  his  shallop 
loaded  with  bluish  green  earth  taken  from  a  bluff 
near  his  fort.  He  never  saw  Minnesota  again,  and 
no  later  explorer  has  rediscovered  his  mine.  The 
state  geologist  has  not  found  the  least  trace  of 
copper  in  the  region. 

The  last  decade  of  the  seventeenth  century  was 
one  of  discouragement  for  old  France  and  new. 
Louis  XIV,  decrepit  and  bankrupt,  dominated  by 
Madame  Maintenon  and  a  group  of  ecclesiastics, 
had,  by  revoking  the  Edict  of  Nantes  in  1685, 
driven  three  hundred  thousand  and  more  of  the 
most  industrious  and  skillful  artisans  and  trades- 
men of  France  into  exile.  The  dragonades,  counte- 
nanced even  by  such  men  as  Fenelon  and  Bossuet, 
had  spread  ruin  throughout  whole  provinces. 
Foreign  wars  along  with  domestic  convulsions  had 
almost  beggared  the  kingdom. 

Frontenac  had  died  in  office  in  1689,  and  Cana- 


THE   FRENCH   PERIOD  25 

dian  affairs,  fallen  into  less  capable  hands,  were 
languishing.  There  was  lack  of  men  and  money  to 
protect  the  northwest  trade.  It  needed  protection. 
The  English,  holding  the  Iroquois  in  alliance,  had 
pushed  their  trade  into  the  Ohio  valley  and  the 
lower  peninsula  of  Michigan.  The  Sacs  and  Foxes 
of  the  Illinois  country,  old  allies  of  the  French,  had 
broken  away,  and  closed  all  the  roads  from  the 
lakes  to  the  Mississippi  unless  that  of  the  St.  Croix. 
For  these  reasons  the  Canadian  government  had 
in  1699  withdrawn  the  garrison  from  Mackinaw, 
abandoned  all  ports  farther  west,  and  ordered  the 
concentration  of  Indian  trade  at  Montreal.  It  was 
not  till  after  the  war  of  the  Spanish  Succession 
was  closed  by  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  in  1713,  that 
any  thought  could  be  taken  for  the  revival  of  trade 
and  missions  in  the  Mississippi  valley.  England 
might  at  that  time  have  stripped  France  of  all  her 
transatlantic  holdings,  but  contented  herself  with 
Newfoundland  and  the  posts  on  Hudson's  Bay. 

In  1714  the  French  garrison  was  reestablished  at 
Mackinaw,  which  remained  the  headquarters  of 
trade  with  the  Algonquins  of  the  northwest  till  far 
into  the  nineteenth  century.  Three  years  later  Du- 
luth's  old  fort  on  Pigeon  River  was  reoccupied,  to 
become  a  great  entrepot  of  trade  with  the  inland 
natives ;  a  year  later  still  La  Pointe  received  a 
small  garrison. 

Ten  years  passed  before  the  effort  to  plant 
French  trade  and   missions  was  renewed  on  the 


26  MINNESOTA 

upper  Mississippi.  Charlevoix,  the  historian  of  New 
France,  was  over  in  1720  and  traveled  by  way  of 
Mackinaw  and  Green  Bay  to  New  Orleans.  By  his 
advice  the  French  government  resolved  to  plant  an 
establishment  in  the  country  of  the  Sioux,  as  a 
centre  of  trade  and  mission  work,  and  as  a  point 
of  departure  for  expeditions  to  gain  the  shores  of 
the  western  sea.  The  hostile  Sacs  and  Foxes  having 
been  placated,  an  expedition  was  planned  with  all 
the  care  which  long  experience  could  suggest.  For 
leader  was  chosen  Ji6n6  Boucher,  Sieur  de  la  Per- 
riere,  the  same  who  in  1708  had  headed  the  raiding 
party  which  descended  on  Haverhill,  thirty-two 
miles  north  of  Boston,  where  his  Indians  butchered 
thirty  or  forty  of  the  English.  Two  Jesuit  fathers, 
Guinas  and  De  Gonor,  attached  themselves  to  the 
expedition,  and  asked  for  a  supply  of  astronomical 
instruments.  In  June,  1727,  the  expedition  set 
out  from  Montreal  and  took  the  then  main  trav- 
eled road  by  way  of  Mackinaw  and  Green  Bay.  A 
letter  of  De  Gonor,  which  has  been  preserved, 
gives  an  interesting  account  of  the  journey. 

On  September  17,  1727,  at  noon,  La  Perriere 
beached  his  canoes  on  a  low  point  of  land  on  the 
west  shore  of  Lake  Pepin,  near  the  steamboat 
landing  at  Frontenac.  Putting  his  men  to  work 
with  axes,  he  had  them  all  comfortably  housed  by 
the  end  of  October.  There  were  three  log  build- 
ings, each  16  feet  wide;  one  30,  a  second  38,  and 
the  third  25  feet  long.  Surrounding  them  was  a 


THE   FRENCH   PERIOD  27 

stockade  of  three  trunks  12  feet  out  of  ground,  100 
feet  square,  "  with  two  good  bastions."  The  fort 
was  named  "  Beauharnois  "  after  the  governor-gen- 
eral of  Canada.  To  the  first  mission  on  ISIinne- 
sota  soil  the  priests  gave  the  title,  "Mission  of 
St.  Michael  the  Archangel."  On  November  4  the 
company  celebrated  the  birthday  of  the  governor, 
but  were  obliged  by  the  state  of  the  weather  to 
postpone  to  the  night  of  the  14th  the  crowning 
event  of  their  programme.  They  then  set  off  "  some 
very  fine  rockets."  When  the  visiting  Indians  saw 
the  stars  falling  from  heaven,  the  women  and  chil- 
dren took  to  the  woods,  while  the  men  begged  for 
an  end  of  such  marvelous  medicine.  The  Sioux  were 
not  disposed  to  be  hospitable,  and  the  good  beha- 
vior of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  could  not  be  counted  on. 
In  the  following  season  La  Perriere  departed  with 
the  Jesuits  and  eight  other  Frenchmen  for  Mont- 
real. The  post  was  held,  and  occupied  off  and  on 
for  twenty  years  or  more.  No  settlement  was  made 
about  it,  no  permanent  mission  work  was  estab- 
lished, and  no  expedition  towards  the  Pacific  was 
undertaken.  The  Indians  were  unreliable,  the 
French  had  other  interests  to  attend  to,  and,  con- 
trary to  expectation,  game  was  scarce  in  the  region. 
One  of  the  successors  of  La  Perriere  in  command 
of  Fort  Beauharnois  was  Captain  Legardeur  Saint 
Pierre,  the  same  officer  who  in  1753  at  his  post  on 
French  Creek,  not  far  from  Pittsburg,  was  waited 
on  by  young  Mr.  Washington,  bearing  Governor 


28  MINNESOTA 

Dinwiddle's  invitation  to  the  French  to  get  out  of 
Virginian  territory. 

Another  French  adventure,  although  of  slight 
import  to  Minnesota,  deserves  mention.  The  Sieur 
de  la  Verendrye,  commanding  the  French  post  on 
Lake  Nipigon,  fell  in  with  the  Jesuit  Guinas,  who 
went  out  with  La  Perriere  in  1727,  and  was  in- 
flamed by  him  with  a  desire  to  find  the  western 
ocean.  At  his  own  post  he  had  found  an  Indian, 
Ochaga  by  name,  who  sketched  for  him  an  almost 
continuous  water  route  thither ;  another  offered  to 
be  his  guide.  He  hastened  to  Montreal,  secured 
the  assent  of  the  governor-general,  Beauharnois, 
and  in  1731  dispatched  his  advance  party.  It 
reached  the  foot  of  Rainy  Lake  that  year,  and 
there  built  a  fort  on  the  Canadian  side.  The  next 
year  the  expedition  made  its  way  to  the  southwest 
margin  of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  and  there  built 
Fort  Charles,  giving  it  the  Christian  name  of  the 
governor-general.  Whether  this  fort  was  on  Min- 
nesota soil  is  undecided. 

So  ardent  was  Verendrye's  passion  for  the  glory 
of  discovering  the  way  to  the  western  sea  that, 
encouraged  by  the  Canadian  authorities,  he  kept 
up  the  quest  for  more  than  ten  years  longer.  On 
January  12,  1743,  the  Chevalier  Verendrye,  as  re- 
lated, climbed  one  of  the  foothills  of  the  Shiniug 
or  Rocky  Mountains,  and  gave  it  over.  Sixty  years 
later  Lewis  and  Clark  passed  that  barrier  and  won 
their  way  to  the  Pacific. 


CHAPTER   II 

THE   ENGLISH    DOMINION 

If  the  French  failed  to  establish  any  permanent 
settlement  in  Minnesota,  it  was  not  wholly  because 
their  passion  for  trade  discouraged  home-building 
and  cultivation  ;  they  had  interests  elsewhere  in 
America  more  important  than  those  of  the  north- 
west. La  Salle's  proclamation  of  1G82  asserted 
dominion  of  the  whole  region  drained  by  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  its  tributaries.  For  a  time  the  Ohio 
was  regarded  as  the  main  river  and  the  upper 
Mississippi  as  an  affluent.  Before  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century  both  French  and  English  were 
awake  to  the  beauty  and  richness  of  the  Ohio  valley 
and  the  Illinois  country.  The  building  of  a  fort  by 
Cadillac  at  Detroit  in  1701  was  the  first  act  on  the 
part_o£_the  French  to  maintain  their  claim  of  sov- 
ereignty. In  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  1713,  the  Eng- 
lish, with  a  long  look  ahead,  secured  the  concession 
that  the  Iroquois  were  the  "  subjects  "  of  England. 
In  a  series  of  negotiations  culminating  in  a  treaty 
at  Lancaster,  Pa.,  the  Iroquois  ceded  to  the  Eng- 
lish all  their  lands  west  of  the  Alleghanies  and 
south  of  the  great  lakes.  On  this  cession  the  English 
put  the  liberal  construction  that  the  Iroquois  were 


30  MINNESOTA 

owners  of  all  territory  over  which  they  had  ex- 
tended their  victorious  forays,  and  which  they  had 
"•cod  right  to  convey.  In  1748  the  Ohio  Company, 
formed  in  Virginia,  sent  Christopher  Gist  to  ex- 
plore the  Ohio  valley.  The  next  year  a  governor  of 
Canada  sent  an  expedition  down  the  Ohio  to  con- 
ciliate the  Indians  and  to  bury  leaden  plates  at 
chosen  points,  asserting  the  dominion  of  France. 
A  line  of  fortified  posts  was  stretched  by  the  French 
from  Quebec  to  Fort  Charles  below  St.  Louis,  on 
the  Mississippi. 

When  in  1754  a  French  battalion  drove  off  the 
party  of  English  backwoodsmen  who  had  begun 
the  erection  of  a  fort  at  the  forks  of  the  Ohio,  and 
proceeded  to  build  Fort  Duquesne,  the  French 
and  Indian  War  began.  The  course  of  this  strug- 
gle, exceeding  by  far  in  point  of  magnitude  the 
war  of  the  Revolution,  cannot  here  be  followed. 
At  the  close  of  the  campaign  of  1757  the  French 
seemed  triumphant.  In  the  year  following  they  lost 
Fort  Duquesne,  in  1759  Quebec,  and  in  1760 
Montreal.  The  power  of  the  French  in  North 
America  was  broken.  Historians  of  Canada  still 
name  the  epoch  that  of  "  the  Conquest." 

The  diplomatic  settlement  of  this  contest  awaited 
the  outcome  of  a  great  war  raging  in  Europe,  the 
so-called  Seven  Years'  War  of  Frederick  the  Great 
against  Austria,  Russia,  and  France.  England  was 
early  dr^wn  into  the  support  of  the  Prussian  mon- 
arch, and  supplied  his  military  chest  and  sent  an 


THE  ENGLISH  DOMINION  31 

army  to  the  continent.  France  presumptuously 
aspired  to  wrest  the  empire  of  the  seas  from  Brit- 
ain, with  the  result  that  her  navies  were  sunk  or 
battered  to  useless  wrecks.  In  a  separate  treaty 
signed  at  Paris,  February  10,  1763,  France  sur- 
rendered to  England  all  her  possessions  and  claims 
east  of  the  Mississippi  except  the  city  of  New 
Orleans  and  the  island  embracing  it.  The  British 
government,  however,  was  none  too  desirous  to  ac- 
cept this  cession.  It  was  a  matter  of  lively  debate 
in  the  ministry  whether  it  would  not  be  the  better 
policy  to  leave  Canada  to  the  French  and  strip  her 
of  her  West  Indian  possessions.  That  course  might 
have  been  adopted,  but  for  the  influence  exerted  by 
Benjamin  Franklin's  famous  "Canada  Pamphlet," 
which  is  still  "  interesting  reading."  Franklin  was 
in  England  while  the  question  was  pending,  and 
published  his  views  in  answer  to  "  Remarks " 
ascribed  to  Edmund  Burke. 

It  may  be  well  to  note  here  that  in  the  year 
preceding  the  treaty  of  Paris  (1762)  France  had 
taken  the  precaution  to  assign  to  Spain,  by  a  secret 
treaty,  all  her  North  American  possessions  west  of 
the  ISIississippi,  and  thus  put  them  out  of  the  reach 
of  England. 

It  was  the  8th  of  September,  1760,  when  the 
capitulation  of  Montreal  was  signed,  turning  all 
Canada  over  to  the  British.  Five  days  later 
Amherst,  the  victorious  commander,  dispatched 
Major  Robert  Hayes  with  two  hundred  rangers  to 


32  MINNESOTA 

take  possession  of  the  western  posts.  Expected 
opposition  at  Detroit  was  not  offered,  and  that 
important  strategic  point  was  occupied  on  Novem- 
ber 29.  The  season  was  then  too  late  for  further 
movements,  and  more  than  a  year  passed  before 
garrisons  were  established  at  Mackinaw  and  Green 
Bay.  The  British  were  none  too  welcome  among  the 
savages,  long  accustomed  to  French  dealings  and 
alliances.  But  French  influence  was  not  what  it  had 
formerly  been.  During  the  long  struggle  for  the 
mastery  of  the  continent  the  Indian  trade  had  lan- 
guished, and  in  remoter  regions  the  savages  had 
reverted  to  their  ancient  ways  and  standards  of 
living.  The  trade  revived,  however,  under  British 
rule,  which  brought  peace  and  protection.  In  1762 
the  British  commandant  gave  a  permit  to  a  French- 
man named  Pinchon  to  trade  on  the  Minnesota 
Kiver,  then  in  Spanish  territory.  Four  years  later 
the  old  post  on  Pigeon  River  was  revived  and 
trade  was  reopened  in  northern  Minnesota.  Prairie 
du  Chien  became  in  the  course  of  a  decade  a  vil- 
lage of  some  three  hundred  families,  mostly  French 
half-breeds,  and  remained  a  supply  station  for  the 
Indian  trade  of  southern  and  central  Minnesota 
till  far  into  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  British  authorities  in  Canada  indulged  no 
romantic  passion  to  discover  the  south  or  western 
sea,  and  were  indifferent  for  a  time  to  the  develop- 
ment and  protection  of  trade  in  the  northwest. 
This  fact  lends  brilliance  to  the  adventures  of  a 


THE  ENGLISH  DOMINION  33 

single  American  born  subject  who  in  1766  set  out 
alone  for  the  wilderness,  resolved  to  cross  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  descend  to  the  western  ocean, 
and  cross  the  Straits  of  Anion  to  Cathay.  Such 
was  the  bold  enterprise  of  Jonathan  Carver  of 
Canterbury,  Connecticut,  at  thirty-four  years  of 
age.  He  was  not  unlettered,  for  he  had  studied 
medicine;  and  he  was  not  inexperienced,  for  he 
had  served  with  some  distinction  as  a  line  officer 
in  a  colonial  regiment  in  the  French  and  Indian 
War.  Departing  from  Boston  in  June  (1766),  he 
traveled  the  usual  way  by  the  lakes  to  Mackinaw, 
where  he  found  that  versatile  Irish  gentleman, 
Major  Robert  Rogers,  his  comrade  in  arms,  in 
command.  There  is  a  tradition,  needing  confirma- 
tion, that  this  officer  "  grub-staked "  Carver  for 
trade  with  the  Sioux  and  possible  operations  in 
land.  However,  he  left  Mackinaw  in  September 
supplied  with  credits  on  traders  for  the  goods 
serving  for  money  with  Indians,  and  taking  the 
Fox- Wisconsin  route,  found  himself  at  the  Fulls  of 
St.  Anthony  on  the  17th  of  November.  Although 
EeTestimated  the  descent  of  the  cataract  at  thirty 
feet,  it  impressed  him  only  as  the  striking  feature 
of  a  beautiful  landscape.  "On  the  whole,"  says 
he,  "  when  the  Falls  are  included,  ...  a  more 
pleasing  and  picturesque  view,  I  believe,  cannot 
be  found  throughout  the  universe.*'  After  a  short 
excursion  above  the  falls,  Carver  took  his  way  up 
the  Minnesota,  as  he  estimated,  two  hundred  miles. 


34  MINNESOTA 

lie  passed  the  winter  with  a  band  of  Sioux  Indiana 
which  he  fails  to  name,  and  in  a  place  he  does  not 
describe,  and  in  the  spring  came  down  to  St.  Paul 
with  a  party  of  three  hundred,  bringing  the  remains 
of  their  dead  to  be  deposited  in  the  well-known 
"  Indian  mounds  "  on  Dayton's  Bluff.  The  cave  in 
the  white  sand  rock  entered  by  him  on  his  upward 
journey,  and  which  bore  his  name  till  obliterated 
by  railroad  cuttings,  was  nearly  beneath  the  In- 
dian mounds.  His  report  of  a  funeral  oration  de- 
livered here  by  one  of  the  chiefs  so  impressed  the 
German  poet  Schiller  that  he  wrote  his  "  Song  of 
the  Nadowessee  Chief,"  which  Goethe  praised  as 
one  of  his  best.  Two  very  distinguished  English- 
men, Sir  Edward  Bulwer  Lytton  and  Sir  John 
Herschel,  made  metrical  translations  of  this  poem 
in  the  fashion  of  their  time. 

This  journey  was  but  a  preliminary  one  to  find 
and  explore  the  Minnesota  valley  and  acquaint 
Carver  with  the  tribes  dwelling  there  and  their 
lans^uages.  He  had  conceived  that  a  short  march 
from  the  head  of  that  river  would  take  him  to  the 
Missouri,  This  he  would  ascend  to  its  sources  in 
the  mountains,  and  ci'ossing  over  these  he  would 
float  down  tlie  Oregon  to  the  ocean.  Major  Kogers, 
as  he  relates,  had  engaged  to  send  him  supplies  to 
the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  Receiving  none,  Car- 
*  ver  hastened  down  to  Prairie  du  Chieu,  to  be  again 
disappointed. 

Resolved  on  prosecuting  his  great  adventure,  he 


THE  ENGLISH  DOMINION  35 

decided  to  apply  to  the  traders  at  Pigeon  River  for 
the  necessary  merchandise.  Paddling  back  up  the 
Mississippi,  he  took  the  St.  Croix  route  to  Lake 
Superior,  and  coasted  along  the  north  shore  to  that 
post,  only  to  find,  after  many  hundred  miles  of 
laborious  travel,  that  the  traders  had  no  goods  to 
spare  him.  lie  could  do  nothing  but  return  to  his 
home.  In  1768  he  went  to  England,  hoping  to  in- 
terest the  government  in  his  project,  and  in  the 
following  year  published  his  book  of  travels.  It 
is  now  known  that  little  if  any  of  it  was  his  own 
composition.  His  account  of  the  customs  of  the 
Indians  was  pieced  together  from  Charlevoix  and 
Lahontan.  But  the  work  of  his  editor,  a  certain 
Dr.  Littsom,  was  so  well  done  that  "  Carver's 
Travels "  have  been  more  widely  read  than  the 
original  works  drawn  upon. 

There  is  very  doubtful  testimony  to  the  effect 
that  in  1774  the  king  made  Carver  a  present  of 
X1373  13s.  8d.,  and  ordered  the  dispatch  of  a  pub- 
lic vessel  to  carry  him  and  a  party  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  men  by  way  of  New  Orleans  to  the  upper 
Mississippi,  to  take  possession  of  certain  lands. 
The  Revolutionary  War  breaking  out,  the  expedi- 
tion was  abandoned. 

Carver  died  in  poverty  in  England  in  1780,  and 
might  be  dismissed  but  for  a  sequel  which  lingers 
in  Minnesota  to  the  present  time.  After  his  death 
there  was  brought  to  day  a  deed  purporting  to 
have  been  signed  by  two  Indian  chiefs,  "  at  the 


36  MINNESOTA 

great  cave,"  May  1, 1767,  conveying  to  their  "good 
brother  Jonathan  "  a  tract  of  land  lying  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Mississippi  one  hundred  miles  wide, 
running  from  tlie  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  down  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Chippeway,  embracing  nearly 
two  million  acres.  A  married  daughter,  by  his 
English  wife,  and  her  husband  bargained  their 
alleged  interest  to  a  London  company  for  ten  per 
cent,  of  the  realized  profits,  but  that  company 
soon  abandoned  their  venture.  Carver  left  be- 
hind him  an  American  family,  a  widow,  two 
sons,  and  five  daughters.  In  1806  one  Samuel 
Peters,  an  Episcopal  clergyman  of  Vermont,  repre- 
sented in  a  petition  to  Congress  that  he  had 
acquired  the  rights  of  these  heirs  to  the  Car- 
ver purchase,  and  prayed  to  have  it  confirmed  to 
him.  This  Peters  claim  was  kept  before  Congress 
for  seventeen  years.  In  1822  the  Mississippi  Land 
Company  was  organized  in  New  York  to  prosecute 
it.  They  seem  to  have  been  taken  seriously,  for  in 
the  next  year  a  Senate  committee,  in  a  report  of 
January  23,  advised  the  rejection  of  the  claim  as 
utterly  without  merit.  But  it  has  been  repeatedly 
renewed,  and  doubtless  at  the  present  time  there 
are  worthy  people  dreaming  of  pleasures  and  pal- 
aces when  they  come  into  their  rights. 

For  the  first  three  years  following  the  Conquest 
all  Canada  remained  under  military  rule.  In  1763 
George  III  by  proclamation  established  four  pro- 
vinces with  separate  governments,  but  the  great 


THE  ENGLISH  DOMINION  37 

northwest  region  was  included  in  none  of  these. 
That  remained  as  crown  land,  reserved  for  the  use 
of  the  Indians  under  royal  protection.  All  squat- 
ters were  ordered  to  depart  and  all  persons  were 
forbidden  to  attempt  purchases  of  land  from  the 
Indians.  This  prohibition  alone  was  fatal  to  Car- 
ver's claim.  The  United  States  could  not  possibly 
confirm  a  purchase  impossible  under  English  law. 
It  was  the  express  design  of  the  British  government 
to  prevent  the  thirteen  colonies  from  gaining  ground 
to  the  west,  and  "  leave  the  savages  to  enjoy  their 
deserts  in  quiet." 

In  1774,  about  the  time  when  Parliament  was 
extending  its  novel  sway  over  the  American  colo- 
nies, the  "Quebec  act"  was  passed.  This  act  ex- 
tended the  Province  of  Quebec  to  the  Mississippi 
and  gave  to  Minnesota  East  its  first  written  con- 
stitution. This  provided  for  a  government  by  a 
governor  and  an  appointed  legislative  council,  but 
it  was  never  actually  effective  west  of  Lake  Mich- 
igan. 

Under  the  definitive  treaty  of  peace  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  the  dominion 
of  the  former  over  Minnesota  East  ceased,  but  that 
of  the  United  States  government  did  not  immedi- 
ately supervene.  Virginia  under  her  charter  of  1609 
had  claimed  the  whole  Northwest,  and  her  army, 
commanded  by  General  George  Rogers  Clark,  had 
in  1779  established  her  power  in  the  Illinois  coun- 
try. Three  years  later  the  couuty  of  Illinois  was 


38  MINNESOTA 

created  and  an  executive  appointed  by  Governor 
Patrick  Henry.  The  act  of  Congress  of  March  1, 
1784,  accepting  the  cession  of  her  northwestern 
lands,  amounting  to  a  concession  of  colorable  title, 
ended  Virginia's  technical  government  in  Minne- 
sota East.  From  that  date  to  the  passage  of  tlie 
Ordinance  of  1787  (July  13)  this  region  remained 
unorganized  Indian  country.  This  great  ordinance 
made  it  part  of  "  the  Northwest  Territory "  and 
gave  it  a  written  constitution.  But  this  was  nuga- 
tory for  the  reason  that  although  Great  Britain 
had  in  form  surrendered  the  territory  in  the  treaty 
of  1783,  she  continued  her  occupation  for  thirteen 
years  longer.  Her  pretext  for  maintaining  her  gar- 
risons at  Detroit,  Mackinaw,  Green  Bay,  and  else- 
where was  the  failure  of  the  United  States  to 
prevent  the  states  from  confiscating  the  estates  of 
loyalists  and  hindering  English  creditors  from  col- 
lecting their  debts  in  full  sterling  value,  as  pro- 
vided in  the  treaty.  The  actual  reason  was  an 
expectation,  or  hope,  that  affairs  would  take  such  a 
turn  that  the  whole  or  the  greater  part  of  the  Ohio- 
Illinois  country  might  revert  to  England.  A  new 
British  fort  was  built  on  the  Maumee  Kiver  in 
northwestern  Ohio  in  1794.  The  surrender  of  this 
to  General  Anthony  Wayne  after  the  battle  of 
Fallen  Timbers,  in  August  of  that  year,  has  been 
regarded  as  the  last  act  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution. 
By  the  Jay  treaty  it  was  agreed  that  the  western 
posts  should  be  given  up  to  the  United  States,  and 


THE  ENGLISH   DOMINION  39 

on  or  about  the  12th  of  July,  1796,  the  British 
commanders  hauled  down  their  flags  and  marched 
out  their  garrisons. 

There  was  a  powerful  interest  which  had  encour- 
aged the  British  authorities  to  hold  their  grip  on  the 
Northwest.  The  revival  of  the  fur-trade  after  the 
Conquest  was  tardy,  but  soon  after  Carver's  time 
a  notable  development  took  place.  Another  Con- 
necticut Yankee,  Peter  Pond  by  name,  in  1774 
established  a  trading  post  at  Traverse  des  Sioux 
on  the  Minnesota.  On  a  map  left  by  him  it  is 
marked  "Fort  Pond,"  The  trade  west  of  the  lakes, 
however,  early  fell  into  the  hands  of  adventurous 
Scotchmen  of  Montreal,  among  whom  competition 
became  so  sharp  as  to  lead  to  what  would  have 
been  called,  a  hundi-ed  years  later,  a  "  trust "  or 
"combine."  An  informal  agreement  between  the 
principal  traders  at  Montreal  ripened,  in  1787, 
into  "The  Northwest  Company,"  with  headquar- 
ters in  that  city.  This  company  promptly  and 
effectually  organized  the  northwestern  fur-trade. 
It  established  a  hierarchy  of  posts  and  stations, 
and  introduced  a  quasi-military  administration  of 
the  employees.  It  wisely  took  into  its  service  the 
old  French  and  half-breed  "  engages  and  voya- 
geurs,"  and  rewarded  them  so  liberally  as  to  win 
them  from  illicit  traffic.  For  forty  years  the  North- 
west Company  was  the  ruling  power  west  of  the 
lakes,  although  it  had  not,  as  had  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  its  model,  any  authorized  political 


40  MINNESOTA 

functions.  Its  policy  and  discipline  served  in  place 
of  laws  and  police. 

The  greater  distributing  and  collecting  ports 
were  Detroit,  Mackinaw,  and  Fort  William  ;  and 
next  in  importance  were  such  places  as  La  Pointe, 
Fond  du  Lac,  and  Prairie  du  Chien,  from  which 
the  trade  of  the  upper  Mississippi  was  managed. 
Fond  du  Lac,  near  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Louis 
River,  at  the  head  of  Lake  Superior,  was  the  gate- 
way to  an  immense  region  abounding  in  the  finest 
peltries  and  occupied  by  a  large  Chippeway  popu- 
lation, eager  to  buy  the  white  man's  guns  and  am- 
munition, knives,  kettles,  tobacco,  and,  most  dearly 
prized  of  all,  his  deadly  fire-water.  From  Fond  du 
Lac  there  was  a  canoe  route  to  the  lakes  which  are 
the  proximate  sources  of  the  great  river.  It  led  up 
the  St.  Louis  River  to  the  mouth  of  the  East  Sa- 
vanna near  the  Flood  wood  railroad  station.  From 
the  head  of  the  East  Savanna  a  short  portage  led 
to  the  West  Savanna,  an  affluent  of  Prairie  River 
which  empties  into  Sandy  Lake,  near  the  south- 
west corner  of  Aitkin  County.  That  water  covers 
near  half  a  township  and  discharges  by  a  short 
outlet  into  the  Mississippi,  some  twenty-five  miles 
above  the  village  and  railroad  station  of  Aitkin. 
Here  in  1794  the  Sandy  Lake  post  of  the  North- 
west Company  was  built.  There  was  a  stockade 
one  hundred  feet  square,  of  hewn  logs  one  foot 
square,  and  thirteen  feet  out  of  ground.  Within 
were  the  necessary  buildings,  and  without,  fenced 


THE  ENGLISH  DOMINION  41 

in,  a  considerable  garden.  From  Sandy  Lake  radi- 
ated numerous  "  jackknife  posts,"  where  the  bush- 
rangers wintered  and  swapped  gewgaws  for  pelts. 
For  many  years  Sandy  Lake  was  the  most  impor- 
tant point  in  Minnesota,  the  chief  factor  there  the 
big  man  of  the  Chippeway  country. 


CHAPTER  III 

MINNESOTA   WEST  ANNEXED 

The  reader  is  asked  to  recall  the  cession  by  France, 
in  1762,  of  her  American  territory  west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi to  Spain.  The  French  population  of  Lou- 
isiana, resenting  this  arbitrary  transfer,  drove  out 
the  Spanish  governor  who  came  in  1766,  and  organ- 
ized for  a  free  state  under  French  protection.  In 
1769  a  Spanish  fleet  of  twenty-four  sail,  bringing  an 
army  of  twenty-six  hundred  men  and  fifty  cannon, 
under  the  command  of  a  forceful  captain-general, 
securely  established  the  power  of  Spain.  The  laws 
of  Castile,  derived  from  the  civil  code  of  Rome, 
were  put  in  force,  and  they  continue  in  force  to 
the  present  day.  By  a  line  about  on  the  latitude  of 
Memphis  a  province  of  Upper  Louisiana  was  set 
apart  and  placed  under  the  control  of  a  lieutenant- 
governor  residing  at  St.  Louis.  Minnesota  West 
was  of  course  a  part  of  this  jurisdiction. 

In  the  last  years  of  the  eighteenth  century  Na- 
poleon Bonaparte  was  absolute  in  France,  although 
not  yet  crowned  emperor.  Among  the  schemes  with 
which  his  imagination  was  busied  was  one  to  estab- 
lish another  new  France  on  the  western  continent. 
Louisiana  had  been  a  costly  dependency  for  Spain, 


MINNESOTA  WEST  ANNEXED  43 

and  it  was  only  by  a  reluctant  but  timely  conces- 
sion of  the  right  of  navigation  and  deposit  that  an 
armed  descent  of  Americans  from  the  Ohio  valley 
on  New  Orleans  had  been  averted.  That  would 
have  put  an  end  to  Spanish  rule.  Spain  willingly 
retroceded  to  France  for  a  nominal  consideration, 
by  the  secret  treaty  of  San  Ildefonso,  March  13, 
1801.  Already  Napoleon  had  formed  a  definite 
plan  and  begun  preparations  to  send  25,000  vet- 
eran soldiers  to  Louisiana,  under  convoy  of  a  pow- 
erful fleet.  His  secret  could  not  be  kept,  and 
England  made  ready  to  attack  the  expedition  at 
sea.  Napoleon  had  reason  to  expect  that  she  would 
descend  on  New  Orleans  herself,  and  take  posses- 
sion of  the  province.  While  he  was  in  this  frame 
of  mind  the  American  minister,  under  instructions, 
expressed  the  desire  of  his  government  to  buy  the 
city  and  island  of  New  Orleans  and  thus  make  the 
Mississippi  the  international  boundary  to  its  mouth. 
To  his  surprise  Napoleon  offered  to  sell  the  whole 
province,  spite  of  his  agreement  with  Spain  never 
to  cede  to  any  other  power.  The  Louisiana  pur- 
chase was  consummated  by  treaty  April  30,  1803. 
Meantime  the  province  had  remained  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Spain,  and  it  was  not  till  November  80 
that  she  turned  New  Orleans  over  to  the  French. 
Twenty  days  later  the  United  States  came  into 
possession.  The  upper  province  of  Louisiana  was 
held  but  one  day  by  a  French  commissary,  who  on 
March  10,  1804,  at  St.  Louis,  conveyed  it  to  the 


44  MINNESOTA 

United  States.   The  cost  to  the  government  was 
three  and  six  tenths  cents  per  acre. 

The  actual  surrender  of  Upper  Louisiana  in 
1804  added  geographically  Minnesota  West,  in- 
cluded in  that  province,  to  Minnesota  East,  then 
part  of  Crawford  County,  Indiana.  The  whole  re- 
gion was  still  occupied  by  aborigines,  and  a  genera- 
tion was  to  pass  before  any  of  it  became  white  man's 
country.  Two  great  nations  divided  the  territory, 
the  Chippeways,  of  Algonquin  stock,  occupying  the 
north  and  east ;  the  Sioux  or  Dakotas  the  south 
and  west.  Both  were  immigrant  from  early  eastern 
habitats,  the  Chippeways  moving  north  of  the  lakes 
(Lake  Superior  split  the  stream),  the  Sioux  south 
of  the  same.  When  first  seen  by  white  men,  the 
latter  held  the  country  about  the  sources  of  the 
Mississippi,  the  head  of  Lake  Superior,  and  to 
the  St.  Croix.  The  Chippeways  were  first  to  obtain 
guns  from  the  white  man,  and  began  at  once  to 
push  the  Sioux  before  them.  In  Hennepin's  time 
(1680)  the  principal  villages  of  the  Sioux  were  in 
the  Mille  Lacs  region.  By  the  close  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary War  the  Chippeways  had  driven  them  south 
of  the  Crow  Wing  and  west  of  the  Mississippi, 
leaving  them  only  a  precarious  hold  on  the  mar- 
gin of  their  old  hunting  grounds.  From  their  earli- 
est encounters  the  two  nations  had  been  unremitting 
foes.  But  for  occasional  truces  they  were  always  at 
war ;  and  this  perennial  feud  did  not  cease  till  the 
government  in  1863  moved  the  Sioux  beyond  the 


MINNESOTA  WEST  ANNEXED  45 

Missouri,  out  of  the  reach  of  the  Chippeways. 
The  two  nations  possessed  in  common  the  well- 
known  characteristics  of  the  red  man,  physical, 
mental,  and  social,  but  a  difference  of  environ- 
ment had  established  marked  .peculiarities.  The 
Chippeways  were  men  of  the  forest  and  stream  ; 
their  women  gathered  wild  rice,  excellent  for  food. 
The  Sioux,  men  of  the  prairie,  were  the  taller  and 
more  agile,  but  the  Chippeways  outmatched  them 
for  strength  and  endurance. 

Both  peoples  had  already  been  profoundly  affected 
by  contact  with  white  men.  If  the  missionary  had 
not  broken  the  power  of  the  medicine-man  and  con- 
verted them  to  the  true  faith,  the  trader  had  revo- 
lutionized their  whole  manner  of  life.  He  had  jrivea 
the  Indian  the  gun  for  his  bow  and  arrows,  axes 
and  knives  of  steel  for  those  of  stone,  and  the  iron 
kettle  for  the  earthen  pot.  The  Mackinaw  blanket 
and  the  trader's  strouds  had  replaced  garments 
made  from  skins,  and  ornaments  of  shell  and 
feathers  had  given  way  to  those  of  metal  and 
glass. 

Before  the  trader  the  Indian  had  hunted  for  sub- 
sistence, content  when  he  had  supplied  his  family 
and  dependents  with  food  and  clothing.  The  trader 
made  him  a  pot-hunter,  killing  mostly  for  the  skins 
alone.  Game  animals  became  scarce  about  the  vil- 
lages, and  hunting  expeditions  had  to  be  made  to 
distant  grounds,  where  the  enemies'  parties  would 
be  met  and  foug-ht.  The  Indian  had  become  a  vassal 


46  MINNESOTA 

to  the  trader,  who  outfitted  him  for  the  hunt,  and 
at  its  end  took  his  furs  in  payment  at  rates  little 
understood  by  the  man  who  did  not  know  that  the 
white  metal  was  worth  more  than  the  red.  If  any- 
thing remained  from  the  Indian's  pack  it  was  very 
likely  to  be  forthwith  spent  for  the  highly  diluted 
whiskey  of  the  trader.  The  Indian's  fondness  for 
spirits  and  their  effects  was  at  least  equal  to  the 
white  man's,  and  he  had  not  become  immune  from 
immemorial  indulgence.  The  resulting  crime  and 
misery  are  beyond  description,  —  conception,  al- 
most. And  the  trader's  excuse  was  that  the  Indians 
would  not  trade  if  whiskey  was  not  furnished,  and 
that  it  was  absurd  for  one  to  refuse  it  when  all 
the  rest  were  selling.  Along  with  the  white  man 
came  his  epidemic  diseases.  Smallpox  and  measles 
depopulated  villages  and  almost  extinguished  tribes. 
A  nameless  contagion  was  only  less  deadly.  Un- 
bridled commerce  with  the  women  multiplied  half- 
breeds,  possessing  frequently  all  of  the  vices  and 
few  of  the  virtues  of  both  races.  The  half-breed 
was  always  a  misfit,  because  he  could  assume  by 
turns  the  character  of  white  or  red,  according  to 
convenience  and  profit. 

All  the  Minnesota  Indians  were  clients  of  the 
Northwest  Company,  unless  where  along  the  north- 
ern border  the  agents  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany were  drawing  off  the  trade  by  abundant 
whiskey.  This  competition  at  length  brought  the 
two  companies  to  open  war. 


MINNESOTA   WEST  ANNEXED  47 

Long  before  he  became  president,  Jefferson  was 
curious  to  unlock  the  secret  of  the  unknown  west 
and  learn  the  road  to  the  Pacific.  It  was  not  till 
the  early  winter  of  1803,  however,  that  he  was  able 
to  persuade  Congress  to  make  a  small  appropria- 
tion for  a  military  expedition  of  discovery,  and  then 
under  color  of  "extending  the  external  commerce 
of  the  United  States."  And  more  than  a  year  passed 
before  the  expedition  of  Lewis  and  Clark  set  out 
from  St.  Louis  May  4,  1804. 

A  similar  expedition  on  a  smaller  scale  left  St. 
Louis  September  21,  1805,  to  discover  the  source 
of  the  Mississippi.  It  was  led  by  First  Lieutenant 
Zebulon  Montgomery  Pike  of  the  First  Infantry, 
a  native  of  New  Jersey,  then  twenty-six  years  of 
ago.  "  He  was  five  feet  eight  inches  tall ;  eyes  blue ; 
hair  light ;  abstemious,  temperate,  and  unremitting 
in  duty."  If  there  could  have  been  doubt  of  his 
fitness  for  the  enterprise,  the  sequel  fully  justified 
his  selection.  His  instructions  were  carefully  drawn 
to  keep  him  and  his  errand  within  constitutional 
limits.  The  first  entry  of  his  journal  reads,  "Sailed 
from  my  encampment,  near  St.  Louis,  at  4  o'clock, 
p.  M.,  on  Friday  the  9th  of  August,  1805  :  with  one 
sergeant,  two  corporals,  and  seventeen  privates,  in 
a  keel  boat,  70  feet  long,  provisioned  for  four 
months."  On  the  21st  of  September  Pike  reached 
the  mouth  of  the  Minnesota,  and  "encamped  on 
the  northeast  point  of  the  big  island,"  which  still 
bears  his  name.  The  next  day  Little  Crow,  grand- 


48  MINNESOTA 

father  of  tlie  chief  of  the  same  name  who  led  the 
outbreak  of  1862,  came  with  his  band  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  warriors.  On  the  third  day  a  council 
was  held  under  the  shelter  of  the  sails,  on  the 
beach.  In  his  speech  Pike  let  the  Indians  know 
that  their  Great  Father  no  longer  lived  beyond  the 
great  salt  water,  and  that  the  Canadian  traders 
who  tried  to  keep  them  in  ignorance  of  American 
independence  were  "  bad  birds  "  ;  that  traders  were 
forbidden  to  sell  rum,  and  the  Indians  ought  to 
cooperate  in  preventing  them ;  and  that  the  Sioux 
and  Chippeways  ought  to  live  in  peace  together. 
In  particular  he  asked  that  they  allow  the  United 
States  to  select  two  tracts  of  land,  one  at  the  mouth 
of  the  St.  Croix,  the  other  above  the  mouth  of  the 
Minnesota.  On  these  the  Great  Father  would  estab- 
lish military  posts,  and  public  trading  factories, 
where  Indians  could  get  goods  cheaper  than  from 
the  traders. 

The  well-advised  officer  had  already  crossed  the 
hands  of  the  two  head  chiefs.  He  closed  his  speech 
with  a  reference  to  their  "father's  tobacco  and  some 
other  trifling  things  "  as  evidence  of  good  will,  and 
promised  some  liquor  "  to  clear  their  throats."  The 
chiefs  saw  no  need  of  their  signing  any  paper,  but 
did  it  to  please  the  generous  orator.  The  "  treaty  " 
is  a  curiosity  in  diplomacy.  The  first  article  grants, 
what  the  United  States  already  possessed,  ''  full 
sovereignty  and  power  "  over  two  tracts  of  land : 
one  of  nine  miles  square  at  the  mouth  of  the  St. 


MINNESOTA  WEST  ANNEXED  49 

Croix ;  the  other  "  from  below  the  confluence  of  the 
Mississippi  and  St.  Peter's  (Minnesota)  up  the 
Mississippi  to  include  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony, 
extending  nine  miles  on  each  side  of  the  river." 
Pike  estimated  the  area  of  the  latter  grant  to  be 
about  one  hundred  thousand  acres  and  the  value  to 
be  S200,000.  The  second  article  provides  that "  the 
United  States  shall  pay  .  .  .  dollars."  The  final 
article  permits  the  Sioux  to  retain  the  only  right 
they  could  legally  convey,  that  of  occupancy  for 
hunting  and  their  other  accustomed  uses. 

Five  days  were  passed  at  the  Falls  of  St.  An- 
thony, partly  because  of  the  sickness  of  some  of  the 
men.  Pike  took  measurements  and  made  a  map. 
He  found  the  depth  of  the  fall  to  be  sixteen  and  a 
half  feet.  The  portage  on  the  east  bank  was  two 
hundred  and  sixty  rods.  The  navigation  of  the  river 
above  proved  so  difficult  that  it  was  not  till  the 
16  th  of  October  that  the  party  reached  the  mouth 
of  the  Swan  River.  It  was  the  expectation  of  his 
general  and  of  Pike  himself  that  the  march  to  the 
source  of  the  Mississippi  and  back  would  certainly 
be  finished  before  the  close  of  the  season.  By  the 
time  he  was  ready  to  leave  the  falls,  September 
30,  it  was  evident  that  the  journey  could  not  be 
accomplished  in  any  such  period.  Resolved  to  pro- 
secute it,  and  not  go  back  defeated,  he  formed  the 
plan  to  push  on  to  the  mouth  of  the  Crow  Wing, 
put  his  stores  and  part  of  his  men  under  cover, 
and  go  forward  on  foot  to  his  destination.   On  the 


50  MINNESOTA 

way  up  river  he  had  a  foretaste  of  the  hardships 
which  awaited  liim.  As  he  says,  he  "  literally  per- 
formed the  duties  of  astronomer,  surveyor,  com- 
manding officer,  clerk,  spy,  and  guide."  Finding  it 
impossible  to  force  his  boats  through  the  rapids 
below  Little  Falls,  he  selected  a  favorable  site  be- 
low the  junction  of  the  Swan  with  the  Mississippi 
(the  spot  has  been  clearly  identified),  where  he 
built,  in  the  course  of  a  week,  two  blockhouses,  and 
in  them  bestowed  his  baggage  and  provisions.  Here 
he  remained  till  December  10,  occupied  with  hunt- 
ing, chopping  out  "  peroques,"  and  building  bob- 
sleds. It  took  thirty-four  days  to  reach  Sandy  Lake, 
where  the  party  met  with  generous  hospitality  at 
the  post  of  the  Northwest  Company.  A  week  was 
passed  here  in  which  the  men  replaced  their  sleds 
with  the  traineaux  de  glace,  or  toboggans,  used  by 
the  voyageurs.  On  February  1  the  leader,  marching 
in  advance,  reached  the  establishment  of  the  North- 
west Company  on  the  western  margin  of  Leech 
Lake,  and  highly  relished  a  "good  dish  of  coffee, 
biscuit,  butter,  and  cheese  for  supper."  Pike  had 
now  accomplished  his  voyage  by  reaching  the  main 
source  of  the  Mississippi.  Seventeen  days  were 
passed  here,  including  three  devoted  to  an  excur- 
sion on  snowshoes  to  Cass  Lake,  then  known  as 
Upper  Red  Cedar  Lake.  He  now  believed  himself 
to  have  reached  the  "  upper  source  of  the  jNIissis- 
sippi,"  but  wasted  not  a  word  of  rhetoric  on  the 
achievement.  While  restinjr  at  Leech  Lake  Lieu- 


MINNESOTA  WEST  ANNEXED  51 

tenant  Pike  wrote  out  for  the  eye  of  Mr.  Hugh 
McGillis,  director  of  the  Fond  du  Lac  department 
of  the  Northwest  Company,  there  present,  a  formal 
demand  that  he  should  smuggle  no  more  British 
goods  into  the  country,  haul  down  the  British  flag 
at  all  his  posts,  give  no  more  flags  or  medals  to 
Indians,  and  hold  no  political  intercourse  with 
them.  Mr.  McGillis  in  a  communication  equally 
formal  promised  to  do  all  those  things.  Pike  esti- 
mated that  the  government  was  losing  some  826,000 
a  year  of  unpaid  customs.  The  two  functionaries 
parted  with  mutual  expressions  of  regard,  and  the 
genial  lieutenant  started  off  home  with  a  cariole 
and  dog  team  worth  $200  presented  by  the  gracious 
factor.  Before  his  departure,  however,  he  had  his 
riflemen  shoot  down  the  English  jack  flying  over 
the  post.  The  return  journey,  ending  April  30, 
1806,  cannot  be  followed.  On  the  10th  of  the  month 
the  expedition  passed  around  the  Falls  of  St.  An- 
thony, and  the  journal  records,  "  The  appearance 
of  the  Falls  was  much  more  tremendous  than  when 
we  ascended."  The  ice  was  floating  all  day.  The 
leader  congratulated  himself  on  having  accom- 
plished every  wish,  without  the  loss  of  a  man. 
"  Ours  was  the  first  canoe,"  he  says,  "  that  ever 
crossed  this  portage."  In  that  belief  he  was  con- 
tent. Pike's  journal  was  not  published  till  1810, 
and  it  included  his  accoimt  of  an  expedition  to  the 
sources  of  the  Arkansas,  and  an  enforced  tour  in 
New  Spain.  It  had  but  slight  effect  on  the  author- 


52  MINNESOTA 

ities  at  Washington,  and  still  less  on  the  public. 
The  War  of  1812  was  brewing  and  there  was  little 
concern  about  this  remote  wilderness.  The  effect 
of  Pike's  dramatic  incursion,  and  his  fine  speeches 
to  the  Sioux  and  Chippeways  soon  wore  off,  the 
British  flag  went  up  over  the  old  trading  posts  of 
Minnesota  and  Wisconsin,  and  the  Northwest  Com- 
pany resumed  its  accustomed  control  over  the  In- 
dians. It  is  not  likely  that  many  of  their  goods 
paid  the  duties  at  Mackinaw.  When  the  war  broke 
out  the  British- American  authorities  used  all  need- 
ful means  in  the  way  of  presents  and  promises  to 
hold  the  attachment  of  the  nations.  Some  of  the 
principal  agents  of  the  Northwest  Company  were 
actually  commissioned  in  the  British  service  and 
collected  considerable  bodies  of  Indians  and  half- 
breeds  for  the  western  operations.  The  news  of  the 
end  of  the  war  was  slow  in  reaching  these  allies, 
and  it  was  not  till  May  24,  1815,  that  the  British 
captain  commanding  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  having 
received  his  orders,  hauled  down  his  flag  and 
marched  away  with  his  garrison  for  Green  Bay 
and  Montreal.  The  treaty  of  Ghent  had  been  con- 
cluded eight  months  and  some  days  before.  A 
serious  proposition  made  by  the  British  plenipoten- 
tiaries for  negotiating  that  treaty  proves  that  the 
British  had  cherished  the  hope  that  they  might  re- 
tain the  great  Northwest  under  their  virtual  domin- 
ion. The  proposition  was  that  the  two  powers 
should  agree  that  the  territory  north  and  west  of 


MINNESOTA   WEST   ANNEXED  53 

the  "  Greenville  line  of  1796,"  roughly  a  zigzag 
from  Cleveland  to  Cincinnati,  should  remain  as  a 
permanent  barrier  between  their  boundaries.  Both 
parties  were  to  be  prohibited  from  buying  land  of 
the  Indians,  who  were  thus  to  be  left  in  actual  oc- 
cupation. The  British  would  continue  to  control 
their  trade  and  hold  their  accustomed  allejjiance. 
The  American  commissioners  refused  of  course  to 
entertain  the  proposal. 


CHAPTER  IV 

FORT   SNELLING   ESTABLISHED 

Readers  of  Irving's  "  Astoria  "  know  how  a  young 
German,  coming  to  America  in  the  last  year  of  the 
Revolution,  by  accident  learned  of  the  possible 
profits  to  be  won  in  the  fur-trade,  and  how  he  pre- 
sently embarked  in  it.  In  the  course  of  twenty-five 
years  he  made  a  million  dollars,  a  colossal  private 
foi'tune  for  that  day.  In  1809  he  obtained  from  the 
New  York  legislature  a  charter,  and  organized 
the  American  Fur  Company.  The  war  suspended 
the  development  of  its  plans.  In  1816  Mr.  John 
Jacob  Astor  had  little  difficulty  in  securing  an  act 
of  Congress  restricting  Indian  trade  to  American 
citizens.  This  patriotic  statute  was  intended  to  put 
the  Northwest  Company  out  of  business  on  Amer- 
ican territory.  It  did,  and  that  company  sold  out 
to  Mr.  Astor  all  its  posts  and  outfits  south  of  the 
Canadian  boundary  at  prices  satisfactory  to  the 
purchaser.  In  1821  the  Northwest  Company  was 
merged  into  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

The  American  Fur  Company  adopted  the  policy 
of  filling  its  leading  positions  with  young  Amer- 
icans of  good  education  and  enterprise,  and  taking 
over  the  old  engages  and  voyageurs,  inured  to  the 


FORT  SNELLING  ESTABLISHED      55 

service  and  useless  for  any  other.  These  old  cam- 
paigners easily  won  over  the  Indians  to  the  new 
company  and  taught  them  to  look  to  a  Great  Fa- 
ther at  Washington.  The  chief  western  stations  for 
the  trade  of  the  upper  Mississippi  were  Mackinaw 
and  Prairie  du  Chien.  There  was  now  an  "  inter- 
est "  which  desired  the  development  of  the  upper 
country  ;  and  it  lost  no  time  in  moving  on  the  gov- 
ernment. In  the  year  last  mentioned  (1816)  four 
companies  of  United  States  infantry  were  sent 
to  Prairie  du  Chien,  where  they  at  once  built  Fort 
Crawford.  In  the  next  year,  Pike's  reports  having 
apparently  been  forgotten,  Major  Stephen  H.  Long 
of  the  Engineers  traveled  to  Fort  Snelling  and  in 
his  report  gave  a  conditional  approval  to  Pike's 
selection  of  a  site  for  a  fort ;  but  it  was  not  till  the 
winter  of  1819  that  the  government  was  moved  to 
establish  a  military  post  at  the  junction  of  the  St. 
Peter's  with  the  Mississippi.  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Henry  Leavenworth  was  ordered  February  10  to 
proceed  from  Detroit,  Michigan,  to  that  point  with 
a  detachment  of  the  Fifth  Infantry. 

Taking  the  Fox-Wisconsin  route,  his  party  of 
eighty-two  persons  reached  Prairie  du  Chien  July 
1.  "  Scarcely  an  hour  "  after  his  arrival  this  num- 
ber was  increased  by  the  birth  of  Charlotte  Ouis- 
consin  (Clarke)  Van  Cleve,  long  known  to  all 
Minnesotians,  whose  life  was  not  ended  till  1907. 

The  command  arrived  at  Mendota  Aucust  23 
and  was  at  once  put  to  building  the  log  houses  of 


56  MINNESOTA 

a  cantonment.  The  site  was  near  the  present  ferry 
and  the  hamlet  of  Mendota,  where  a  sharp  eye  may 
still  note  traces  of  foundations.  In  Septeml)er  a 
reinforcement  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  arrived. 
In  the  spring  of  1820  the  companies  were  put  into 
camp  above  the  fort,  near  the  great  spring  known 
to  all  early  settlers.  It  was  named  Camp  Coldwa- 
ter.  In  July  the  command  passed  to  Colonel  Jo- 
seph Snelling,  who  held  it  till  near  the  time  of  his 
death  in  1828.  A  daughter  born  in  his  family  a 
short  time  after  their  arrival  was  the  first  white 
child  born  in  Minnesota. 

Colonel  Snelling  at  once  began  the  erection  of  a 
fort,  which,  however,  was  not  ready  for  occupation 
till  October,  1822.  It  was  a  wooden  construction, 
for  which  the  logs  were  cut  on  the  Rum  River.  In 
1821  a  rude  sawmill  was  built  at  "the  Falls" 
which  converted  the  logs  into  lumber.  This  was  of 
course  the  first  sawmill  in  Minnesota.  Two  years 
later  a  "  run  of  buhrs  "  was  put  in,  and  a  first  flour 
mill  established.  Colonel  Snelling  named  his  work 
"  Fort  Saint  Anthony,"  but  in  1824,  upon  recom- 
mendation of  Major-General  Winfield  Scott,  after 
a  visit  to  the  place,  that  name  was  changed  to 
"Fort  Snelling,"  in  recognition  of  the  enterprise 
and  efficiency  of  its  builder. 

The  reader  must  not  be  allowed  to  fear  that 
the  government  was  trespassing  on  Indian  ground 
when  building  Fort  Snelling.  Pike  had  bargained 
for  the  site  in  1805,  but  the  government  for  four- 


FORT  SNELLING  ESTABLISHED  57 

teen  years  neither  took  possession  nor  tendered 
payment.  The  Senate  on  ratifying  the  treaty  filled 
the  blank  in  article  II  by  inserting  •'i!2000,  and 
Congress  in  1819  made  an  appropriation  of  that 
amount.  In  anticipation  of  the  dispatch  of  a  de- 
tachment of  troops,  Major  Forsyth  was  ordered  to 
transport  12000  worth  of  goods  to  tlie  Sioux  coun- 
try and  deliver  them  in  payment  for  the  lands 
ceded  to  Pike.  It  chanced  that  his  boats  arrived 
at  Prairie  du  Chien  in  time  to  make  the  further 
ascent  of  the  river  in  company  with  the  command 
of  Colonel  Leavenworth.  The  payment  was  happily 
managed.  On  his  way  up  river  Major  Forsyth 
called  at  the  villages  of  Wabashaw,  Ked  Wing, 
and  Little  Crow,  and  gave  each  of  those  chiefs  a 
present  of  blankets,  tobacco,  powder,  or  other 
goods.  On  arrival  at  destination  similar  presents 
were  made  to  five  other  chiefs,  whose  villages  were 
not  distant.  In  each  case  the  major  records  that 
he  had  to  give  a  little  whiskey.  The  United  States 
could  afford  such  generosity. 

A  period  of  thirty  years  intervened  between  the 
arrival  of  Colonel  Leavenworth's  battalion  at  Fort 
Snelling  in  1819,  and  the  establishment  of  the 
Territory  of  Minnesota.  The  events  of  the  period 
are  too  slightly  related  to  the  subsequent  history 
of  the  state  to  call  for  minute  narration  in  the  way 
of  annals,  and  may  preferably  be  grouped  under  a 
few  heads  for  compendious  treatment. 

When  Colonel  Leavenworth  was  starting  from 


58  MINNESOTA 

Detroit,  Michigan,  he  was  intrusted  by  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  Territory  of  Michigan  with  blank 
commissions  for  appointive  county  officers  for ' 
Crawford  County,  included  in  that  territory.  This 
duty  was  performed  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  jus- 
tice was  established  in  Minnesota  East.  That  re- 
gion had  previously  been  successively  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Northwest,  Indiana,  Michigan, 
and  Illinois  territories.  Minnesota  West  at  the 
same  time  was  part  of  Missouri  Territory,  and  pre- 
vious to  1812  had  been  in  the  Territory  of  Louisi- 
ana. There  was,  however,  slight  occasion  for  the 
exercise  of  civil  or  judicial  functions  in  the  upper 
Mississippi  country. 

The  American  Fur  Company  had  succeeded  not 
merely  to  the  business  of  the  "old  Northwest  Com- 
pany," but  to  its  quasi-political  control.  The  chief 
factor  at  Mendota,  and  his  subordinate  traders  at 
the  more  important  trading  places,  exercised  a 
control  over  the  Indians  and  half-breeds  which 
government  officials,  civil  and  military,  vainly  en- 
deavored to  win  from  them.  The  few  whites  in  the 
region,  aside  from  the  garrison  of  the  fort,  were 
at  the  first  traders'  employees;  later  a  handful  of 
missionaries  acceded,  and  still  later  an  advance 
guard  of  settlers,  mostly  lumbermen  and  Selkirk 
refugees.  The  dominance  of  the  fur  company  and 
its  principal  agents  was  in  great  part  due,  as  al- 
ready suggested,  to  a  policy  inherited  from  the 
Northwest  Company  of  retaining  in  service  the  old 


FORT  SNELLING   ESTABLISHED  59 

French  and  half-breed  voyageurs,  and  filling  the 
clerical  and  managing  places  with  young  Ameri- 
cans of  ability  and  enterprise.  Such  men  would 
have  been  leaders  anywhere.  The  chief  factor  at 
Mendota  was  the  great  man  of  the  Sioux  country ; 
his  colleague  at  Fond  du  Lac  held  a  like  relation 
in  the  country  of  the  Chippeways.  They  furnished 
their  licensed  traders  with  their  outfits,  assigned 
them  their  respective  districts,  served  as  their 
bankers,  and  exercised  over  them  an  interested 
supervision.  The  fidelity  of  these  subordinates  was 
such  as  to  form  them  into  an  effective  combina- 
tion, which  after  a  few  futile  attempts  at  competi- 
tion gave  the  American  Fur  Company  a  complete 
monopoly. 

The  one  name  to  be  brought  forward  as  repre- 
sentative of  the  American  Fur  Company,  and  what 
was  good  in  it,  is  that  of  Henry  Hastings  Sibley, 
who  came  to  Mendota  in  November,  1834,  as  part- 
ner and  chief  factor.  He  had  been  preceded  by 
other  traders  of  inferior  rank  and  consideration. 
Although  but  twenty-three  years  of  age,  he  had 
already  served  an  apprenticeship  of  five  years  at 
Mackinaw,  the  western  headquarters  of  the  Fur 
Company.  He  was  born  in  Detroit,  Michigan, 
where  his  parents,  having  removed  from  Sutton, 
Massachusetts,  liad  settled  before  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  The  father.  Judge  Solomon 
Sibley,  was  a  notable  character  in  Michigan  for  a 
long  lifetime.  The  boy  received  a  good  "  academy" 


60  MINNESOTA 

education,  had  two  years  of  classical  language 
study  under  private  tuition,  and  pursued  the  study 
of  law.  This  early  training  equipped  him  with  a 
correct  and  graceful  English  style  of  expression, 
which  in  later  life  he  was  fond  of  practicing  in 
manuscript  of  singular  beauty.  The  boy's  heart 
was  in  the  wilderness  and  on  the  wave.  Tall,  hand- 
some of  face,  and  lithe  of  limb,  he  early  became 
expert  with  the  rifle,  the  bridle,  and  the  oar.  So 
fleet  and  tireless  was  he  on  foot  that  the  Sioux 
named  him  Wa-zi-o-ma-ni,  Walker-in-the-pines. 
His  grave  and  ceremonious  manner  was  well  cal- 
culated to  gain  the  respect  of  the  Indians,  fond  as 
they  were  of  etiquette.  Within  two  years  after  his 
arrival  at  his  post  he  built  and  occupied  a  large 
stone  house  at  Mendota,  in  which,  especially  after 
his  marriage  a  few  years  later,  he  maintained  a 
generous  and  elegant  hospitality.  The  building 
still  stands  in  a  dilapidated  condition.  For  many 
years  Mr.  Sibley,  as  justice  of  the  peace,  exercised 
jurisdiction  over  a  territory  of  imperial  extent,  and 
was  believed  by  his  simple-minded  clients,  the 
voyageurs,  to  hold  the  power  of  life  and  death. 
As  the  trusted  adviser  of  the  Indian  agent  and  the 
military  commander,  he  steered  them  past  many  a 
difficult  emergency. 

With  the  extension  of  the  Indian  trade  under 
the  protection  of  a  military  garrison,  it  was  to  be 
expected  that  an  Indian  agency  would  be  estab- 
lished at  a  point  so  prominent  and  convenient  as 


FORT   SNELLING   ESTABLISHED  61 

Fort  Snelling.  As  the  first  agent,  Lieutenant 
Lawrence  Taliaferro,  of  the  Third  United  States 
Infantry,  was  personally  selected  by  President 
Monroe.  He  was  a  member  of  a  well-known  Vir- 
ginia family  of  Italian  extraction,  and  had  given 
evidence  in  the  service  of  capacity  and  enterprise. 
His  appointment  was  dated  March  27,  1819.  His 
age  was  twenty-five.  For  twenty  years  he  held  his 
position,  at  times  against  powerful  opjjosition,  ever 
a  true  friend  of  the  Indian,  a  terror  to  illicit 
whiskey  sellers,  and  never  the  tool  of  the  Ameri- 
can Fur  Company. 

It  was  the  desire  of  the  government  to  put  an 
end  to  the  ancient  warfare  between  the  two  great 
tribes  of  Minnesota  Indians.  Pike  in  1806  had 
induced  some  of  their  chiefs  to  smoke  the  calumet. 
In  1820  Governor  Cass  repeated  the  operation 
with  the  result  of  burning  much  good  tobacco. 
Agent  Taliaferro  conceived  a  plan  for  keeping 
the  peace  between  the  Sioux  and  the  Chippeways, 
which  was  to  survey  and  stake  out  a  partition  line 
between  their  countries.  In  1824,  by  permission  of 
President  Monroe,  he  took  a  delegation  of  Sioux, 
Chippeways,  and  Menominees  to  Washington, 
where  an  arrangement  was  made  for  a  "  grand 
convocation  "  of  all  the  northwestern  nations,  to 
be  held  in  the  summer  of  1825  at  Prairie  du  Chien. 
That  convocation  was  held,  with  many  spectacular 
incidents,  and  a  variety  of  adjustments  were  con- 
summated, lu  particular   it  was  agreed   between 


G2  MINNESOTA 

the  Sioux  and  Chippeway  nations  that  their  lands 
should  be  separated  by  a  line  to  be  drawn  and 
marked  by  the  white  man's  science.  That  line, 
when  tardily  staked  out  ten  years  later,  started 
from  a  point  in  the  Red  River  of  the  North  near 
Georgetown,  passed  east  of  Fergus  Falls  and  west 
of  Alexandria,  crossed  the  Mississippi  between  St. 
Cloud  and  Sauk  Rapids,  and  went  on  in  a  general 
southeast  direction  to  the  St.  Croix,  which  it  struck 
not  far  from  Marine.  The  savages  paid  little  re- 
spect to  this  air  line,  but  went  on  with  their  accus- 
tomed raids.  Within  a  year  there  was  a  bloody 
encounter  in  sight  of  the  agent's  office.  A  single 
example  of  these  savage  frays  may  be  given  to 
illustrate  their  recurrence  in  series. 

In  April,  1838,  a  party  of  Sioux  hunting  in  the 
valley  of  the  Chippeway  River  (of  Minnesota)  left 
a  party  of  three  lodges  in  camp  near  Benson,  Swift 
County.  Hole-in-the-day,  the  Chippeway  chief  from 
Gull  River,  with  nine  followers,  came  upon  this 
camp,  and  professing  himself  peaceable  was  hospit- 
ably treated.  In  the  night  following  he  and  his 
men  rose  silently,  and  upon  a  given  signal  shot 
eleven  of  the  Sioux  to  death.  One  woman  and  a 
wounded  boy  escaped. 

In  August  of  the  same  year  Hole-in-the-day, 
with  a  small  party,  was  at  Fort  Snelling.  His  ar- 
rival becoming  known  to  neighboring  Sioux,  two 
or  three  relatives  of  the  victims  of  the-  April 
slaughter  waylaid  him  near  the  Baker  trading- 


FORT  SNELLING  ESTABLISHED     63 

house,  and  opened  fire.  Hole-in-the-day  escaped, 
but  the  warrior  with  whom  he  had  changed  clothes 
was  killed. 

In  June  of  the  following  year  a  large  party  of 
Chippeways  from  the  upper  Mississippi,  from  Mille 
Lacs  and  the  St.  Croix  valley,  assembled  at  Fort 
Snelling.  For  some  days  they  were  feasted  and 
entertained  by  the  resident  Sioux,  and  agent  Talia- 
ferro got  them  started  homewards.  Two  Chippeway 
warriors,  related  to  the  tribesmen  killed  by  the 
Sioux  the  previous  summer,  remained  behind,  and 
went  into  hiding  near  the  large  Sioux  village  on 
Lake  Calhoun.  At  daybreak,  Nika  (the  badger),  a 
warrior  much  respected,  was  shot  in  his  tracks  as 
he  was  going  out  to  hunt,  and  the  assassins  made 
their  escape.  As  the  Sioux  could  easily  surmise 
that  they  belonged  to  Hole-in-the-day's  band,  they 
decided  not  to  retaliate  on  it,  because  they  would 
be  watched  for.  Two  war-parties  were  immediately 
formed,  the  one  to  follow  the  Mille  Lacs  band,  the 
other  that  from  the  St.  Croix.  It  was  lawful  to  re- 
taliate on  any  Chippeways.  The  Mille  Lacs  Indians 
were  overtaken  in  their  bivouacs  on  the  Rum  River 
at  daylight  on  July  4.  Waiting  until  the  hunters 
had  gone  forward,  the  Sioux  fired  on  the  women, 
children,  and  old  men,  and  harvested  some  seventy 
scalps,  but  they  lost  more  warriors  in  the  action 
than  the  Chippeways.  The  war-dance  of  the  exult- 
ing Sioux  went  on  for  a  month  on  the  site  of  Lake- 
wood  Cemetery  in  Minneapolis.  Little  Crow  and 


64  MINNESOTA 

his  Kaposia  band  gave  their  attention  to  the  St. 
Croix  Chippeways,  who  returned,  as  they  had  come, 
by  canoe  down  the  Mississippi  and  up  the  St.  Croix. 
Little  Crow  marched  overland  and  got  into  posi- 
tion at  Stillwater,  where  he  lay  in  ambush  for  the 
retreating  foe,  who  he  knew  would  bivouac  on  the 
low  ground  near  the  site  of  the  Minnesota  state 
prison.  A  daybreak  assault  killed  twenty-five  of  the 
Chippeways,  but  they  made  so  good  a  defense  that 
the  Sioux  were  glad  to  retire.  The  mortality  in  the 
so-called  "  battles  "  of  Rum  River  and  Stillwater 
was  exceptionally  great. 

In  the  middle  of  the  period  now  in  view,  a  new 
influence,  not  heartily  welcomed  by  the  traders, 
came  over  the  Minnesota  Indians,  —  that  of  the 
missionaries,  mostly  Protestant.  The  first  efforts 
at  evangelization  were  made  for  the  Chippeways 
and  probably  at  the  instance  of  Robert  Stuart,  the 
principal  agent  of  the  American  Fur  Company  at 
Mackinaw,  an  ardent  Scotch  Presbyterian.  In  1823 
a  boarding-school  was  opened  at  that  place  and 
flourished  for  some  years.  In  1830  a  mission  was 
opened  at  La  Pointe,  Wisconsin,  on  the  spot  occu- 
pied by  the  Jesuit  fathers  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  before.  From  this  place  as  a  centre  mission 
work  was  extended  into  Minnesota.  In  1833  the 
Rev.  W.  T.  Boutwell  proceeded  to  Leech  Lake, 
built  a  log  cabin,  and  began  work.  The  Rev.  Fred- 
erick Ayer  opened  a  school  at  Yellow  Lake,  on  the 
Wisconsin  side  of  the  St.  Croix,  and  the  Rev.  E.  E. 


FORT  SNELLING  ESTABLISHED     65 

Ely  began  teaching  at  Sandy  Lake.  Three  years 
later  all  of  these  were  removed  for  more  concen- 
trated, cooperative  effort  to  Lake  Pokegama  in  Pine 
County.  This  mission  was  carried  on  with  much 
promise  for  five  years,  when  it  was  interrupted  by 
a  descent  of  a  large  war-party  of  Sioux  led  by 
Little  Crow.  Among  the  killed  were  two  young 
girls,  pupils  of  the  mission  school.  The  Chippeways 
abandoned  the  place  for  homes  farther  from  the 
danger  line,  and  this  mission  came  to  an  end.  The 
Chippeways  had  their  revenge  a  year  later  (1842), 
when  they  came  down  to  the  near  neighborhood  of 
St.  Paul  and  got  in  the  so-called  battle  of  Kaposia 
the  scalps  of  thirteen  Sioux  warriors,  two  women, 
and  a  child. 

The  missions  to  the  Sioux  were  begun  in  the 
spring  of  1834  by  two  young  laymen  from  Con- 
necticut, who  appeared  at  Fort  Snelling  without 
credentials  from  any  synod  or  conference,  but 
with  abundant  faith  and  zeal.  They  were  brothers, 
Samuel  William  and  Godwin  Hollister  Pond,  then 
twenty-six  and  twenty-four  years  of  age  respect- 
ively. Although  they  had  entered  the  Indian  coun- 
try without  leave  or  license,  they  secured  at  once 
the  confidence  of  Agent  Taliaferro  and  Major 
Bliss,  commander  of  Fort  Snelling.  With  their 
own  hands  they  built  a  log  cabin  on  the  east  shore 
of  Lake  Calhoun,  on  the  edge  of  Cloudman's  vil- 
lage. That  chief  selected  the  site.  Established  In 
this  "  comfortable  home,"  they  devoted  themselves 


66  MINNESOTA 

to  learning  tlie  Dakota  language.  Within  a  few 
weeks  they  adapted  the  Koman  letters  to  that 
language  with  such  skill  that  the  "Pond  alphabet" 
has  with  slight  modification  been  ever  since  used 
in  writing  and  printing  it.  A  Dakota  child  can  be- 
gin to  read  as  soon  as  it  has  "  learned  its  letters." 
The  zealous  brothers  made  the  first  collections  for 
the  dictionary,  later  enlarged  by  others,  prepared 
a  spelling-book,  and  formulated  a  rude  grammar. 
Mr.  Sibley,  who  came  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year, 
became  a  warm  friend  of  the  Ponds. 

The  next  missionary  effort  was  by  appointees  of 
the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions,  best  known  by  the  short  title  "American 
Board."  These  were  the  Rev.  Thomas  S.  William- 
son, missionary  and  physician  ;  the  Rev.  Jedediah 
D.  Stevens,missIonary;  Alexander  Hugglns,  farmer; 
their  wives,  and  two  lady  teachers.  These  arrived 
at  Fort  Snelling  in  May,  1835.  Mr.  Stevens,  who 
had  made  a  tour  of  exploration  in  the  country  six 
years  before,  at  once  established  himself  on  the 
northwest  margin  of  Lake  Harriet,  now  in  the 
city  of  Minneapolis.  He  built  two  considerable  log 
houses  near  the  site  of  the  street  railroad  station, 
in  one  of  which  he  opened  a  school.  The  nucleus 
was  a  number  of  half-breed  daughters  of  traders 
and  military  men,  some  of  whom  became  highly 
respected  Minnesota  women.  This  school,  however, 
was  not  the  first  in  Minnesota,  if  the  collection  of 
Indian  boys  and  men  gathered  by  Major  Taliaferro 


FORT  SNELLING  ESTABLISHED     67 

on  the  east  bank  of  Lake  Calhoun  in  1829,  and 
put  to  learning  the  art  and  mystery  of  agriculture, 
may  be  called  a  school.  Philander  Prescott  was  the 
teacher,  and  his  pupils  numbered  twelve;  the  next 
year  he  had  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  "different 
scholars."  Within  a  few  days  after  the  arrival  of 
these  missionaries  a  Presbyterian  church  was  organ- 
ized at  Fort  Snelling,  June  11,  the  first  in  Minne- 
sota, with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Stevens  in  charge. 

The  American  Fur  Company  had  an  important 
stockaded  post  on  Lac  qui  Parle  in  Chippeway 
County.  The  trader  there  was  Joseph  Kenville, 
who  had  been  captain  in  the  British  frontier  ser- 
vice in  the  War  of  1812.  He  had  married  a  woman 
of  the  Sioux  by  Christian  rite,  and  had  a  large 
family  growing  up.  Although  Catholic  by  birth 
and  education,  he  invited  Dr.  Williamson  to  come 
and  establish  his  mission  near  him,  so  that  his 
children  might  be  taught.  The  mission  at  Lac  qui 
Parle  was  thus  promptly  opened.  Dr.  Williamson 
has  recorded  that  this  school,  begun  in  his  house 
in  July,  was  the  first  in  Minnesota  outside  of  Fort 
Snelling.  It  was  continued  for  many  years  by  his 
sister,  Miss  Jane  Williamson,  who  perhaps  ren- 
dered more  lasting  service  than  any  of  the  noble 
band  to  which  she  belonged.  After  some  two  years' 
study  of  the  Dakota  language  Dr.  Williamson  set 
about  what  became  his  life  work,  the  translation  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures  into  that  tongue.  The  Rev. 
Stephen   Return    Riggs  joined  the   Luc  qui  Parle 


68  MINNESOTA 

mission  in  1837,  after  having  studied  the  Dakota 
under  Samuel  Pond.  He  soon  became  expert,  pre- 
pared text-books  for  the  schools,  and  later  edited 
the  Dakota  dictionary  and  granmiar,  to  which  all 
the  Sioux  missionaries  contributed.  Mission  work 
begun  in  1837  at  Kaposia  (now  Sodth  St.  Paul) 
by  Methodist  preachers,  and  at  Red  Wing  in  1839 
by  Swiss  Presbyterian  evangelists,  however  praise- 
worthy for  intention,  was  too  early  abandoned  to 
have  permanent  results.  Equally  transient  was  the 
ministration  of  the  Catholic  father  Ravoux,  at  Lac 
qui  Parle  and  Chaska,  in  1842.  The  missions 
of  the  American  Board  to  the  Minnesota  Sioux 
were  maintained  until  that  nation  was  removed  to 
the  Missouri  in  1863.  The  results  were  sufficient 
to  encourage  persistence,  in  hope  of  future  success, 
but  the  great  body  of  the  Indians  was  not  affected. 
For  a  time  this  was  due  to  suspicion  on  the  part 
of  the  Indians  of  the  sincerity  of  the  missionaries. 
They  could  understand  the  soldier  and  the  trader, 
but  the  missionary  was  a  puzzle.  He  had  nothing 
to  sell,  he  asked  no  pay  for  teaching  the  children, 
caring  for  the  sick,  or  preaching  the  word.  Why 
he  should  teach  a  religion  of  brotherhood,  and  still 
keep  to  himself  his  household  stuff,  his  little  store 
of  food,  and  his  domestic  animals,  was  beyond 
the  comprehension  of  savages  accustomed  to  com- 
munistic life.  A  greater  obstacle  lay  in  the  fact 
that  the  missionary  had  first  to  break  down  faith 
in  an  ancient  religion,  and  the  dominance  of  a  body 


FORT  SNELLING   ESTABLISHED  G9 

of  medicine -men  who  maintained  their  cult  by 
a  ceremonial  interwoven  with  the  whole  life  and 
habits  of  the  people.  Not  less  obstructive  was  the 
example  of  most  white  men  known  to  the  Indians, 
—  greedy,  dissolute,  and  licentious. 


CHAPTER  V 

EXPLORATIONS   AND   SETTLEMENTS 

To  discover  the  true  source  of  any  of  the  great 
rivers  of  the  world,  that  is,  that  one  of  all  sources 
which  measured  along  the  axis  of  its  channel  is 
farthest  from  its  mouth,  has  ever  been  an  allur- 
ing problem  to  the  exploring  geographer.  David 
Thompson,  geographer  of  the  Northwest  Company, 
in  the  course  of  a  journey  of  exploration  lasting  a 
year  and  extending  to  the  Missouri  River,  on  April 
23,  1798,  reached  Turtle  Lake,  four  miles  north 
of  Lake  Bemidji,  and  believed  himself  the  discov- 
erer of  the  true  source  of  the  Mississippi.  Lieu- 
tenant Pike  was  confident  that  when  on  the  12th 
day  of  February,  1806,  he  reached  the  upper  Red 
Cedar  (Cass)  Lake  he  was  at  the  "  upper  source 
of  the  Mississippi."  These  claims  were  either  not 
known  or  not  trusted,  and  a  series  of  expeditions 
to  reach  the  "  true  source  "  of  the  Mississippi  was 
begun,  soon  after  the  military  occupation  in  1819. 
Lewis  Cass,  known  best  in  American  history  by 
his  national  employments  as  senator,  cabinet  ofifi- 
cer,  and  foreign  minister,  had  cut  such  a  figure  as 
colonel  of  an  Ohio  regiment  and  brigadier-general 
in  the  War  of  1812  that  the  President  made  him 


EXPLORATIONS   AND   SETTLEMENTS        71 

governor  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan ;  an  office 
which  he  held  for  seventeen  years.  That  territory 
in  1819  was  extended  to  the  Mississippi  River.  Its 
governor  was  naturally  curious  to  see  something  of 
this  immense  addition  to  his  jurisdiction  and  the 
great  river  forming  its  western  bound.  He  sought 
and  obtained  leave  to  conduct  an  expedition.  An 
engineer  officer,  Captain  Douglass,  was  ordered 
to  join  it,  and  Governor  Cass  employed  Henry 
R.  Schoolcraft,  of  whom  we  are  to  hear  later,  as 
mineralogist  at  one  dollar  and  a  half  a  day.  Leav- 
ing Detroit  late  in  May,  1820,  with  ten  Indians 
and  seven  soldiers,  in  three  birch -bark  canoes, 
Cass  was  at  the  American  Fur  Company's  post  at 
Fond  du  Lac  (of  Superior)  on  the  6th  of  July. 
He  ascended  the  St.  Louis  River  and  took  the 
Savanna  portage  to  Sandy  Lake.  With  a  reduced 
party  he  pushed  up  stream  through  Lake  Winne- 
bigoshish  to  that  upper  Red  Cedar  Lake  which 
Pike  had  seen  fourteen  years  before.  Assured  that 
this  was  the  true  source  of  the  Mississippi,  he 
ended  his  journey.  Mr.  Schoolcraft  doubted,  but 
he  was  too  polite  to  differ  openly  with  his  chief. 
Captain  Douglass  on  his  map  gave  the  lake  the 
name  "  Cassina,"  which,  shorn  of  two  superfluous 
syllables,  has  remained  in  use.  Mr.  Schoolcraft 
wrote  a  narrative  of  the  expedition  which  is  very 
pleasant  reading.  The  l-eturn  journey,  beginning 
July  22,  was  down  the  Mississippi  to  Prairie  du 
Chien  and  thence  to  Green  Bay  by  the  Fox-Wis- 


72  MINNESOTA 

consin  portage.  At  Fort  Snelling  the  party  were 
feasted  with  fresh  vegetables  from  the  post  garden. 
At  the  Sioux  agency,  then  on  the  Mendota  side  of 
the  Minnesota,  some  chiefs  of  the  Sioux  and  Chip- 
peways  were  got  together  in  council  and  a  reluc- 
tant consent  was  obtained  to  cease  from  troubling 
one  another.  The  high  contracting  parties  were 
content  to  gratify  the  white  man,  but  they  under- 
stood the  farcical  nature  of  the  convention.  Gov- 
ernor Cass  reported  the  cost  of  the  expedition  at 
$6156.40|. 

It  seems  proper  to  interpolate  here  some  account 
of  the  expedition  conducted  by  Major  Stephen  H. 
Long  of  the  topographical  engineers  of  the  army, 
in  1823,  to  the  valleys  of  the  Minnesota  and  Red 
rivers.  Six  years  before,  that  officer  had  made  an 
uneventful  journey  to  St.  Anthony's  Falls,  of  which 
he  left  a  graphic  and  appreciative  description.  His 
party,  escorted  by  a  detail  of  soldiers,  left  Fort 
Snelling  on  July  9  with  Joseph  Renville  as  inter- 
preter and  guide.  At  Traverse  des  Sioux,  Long 
abandoned  his  canoes  and  set  out  overland  by  the 
well-worn  trail  for  Lake  Traverse,  where  he  was 
welcomed  at  the  headquarters  of  the  Columbia 
Fur  Company.  On  August  2  Long  reached  Pem- 
bina, where  he  established  a  monument  to  mark 
a  point  astronomically  determined  in  the  interna- 
tional boundary.  His  instructions  had  been  to 
strike  east  from  Pembina  and  trace  the  boundary 
to  the  Lake  of  the  Woods.  This  he  found  to  be 


EXPLORATIONS   AND   SETTLEMENTS        73 

impracticable.  Putting  his  people  into  bark  canoes, 
he  descended  the  Red  Kiver  past  Fort  Garry  to 
Lake  Winnipeg,  traversed  the  south  arm  of  that 
water,  and  ascended  the  Winnipeg  liiver  to  Kat 
Portage  on  the  Lake  of  the  Woods. 

The  homeward  journey  by  the  old  Dawson  route 
to  Lake  Superior,  along  the  north  shore  to  the 
Sault  Sainte  Marie  and  thence  by  the  lower  lakes 
and  the  Erie  Canal,  was  rapidly  made  without  nota- 
ble incident.  Professor  William  H.  Keating  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  who  was  geologist  of 
the  expedition,  published  a  narrative  abounding  in 
varied  and  interesting  knowledfje.  It  will  ever  re- 
main  indispensable  to  the  historian  of  the  period 
and  region. 

Major  Long  had  been  accompanied  from  Fort 
Snelling  to  Pembina  by  an  Italian  gentleman  of  a 
romantic  and  enterprising  nature,  Giacomo  Con- 
stantino Beltrami  by  name.  Little  is  known  of  his 
early  life  beyond  the  facts  that  he  had  held  mili- 
tary and  civil  appointments,  and  had,  for  reasons 
not  revealed,  found  it  desirable  to  absent  himself 
from  Italy.  lie  came  to  America  full  of  zeal  to  be 
the  discoverer  of  the  true  source  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  thus  place  himself  in  the  company  of  great 
Italian  explorers.  Agent  Taliaferro  came  upon 
him  in  Pittsburg  and  offered  to  further  his  am- 
bition. They  reached  Fort  Snelling  on  the  10th 
of  May,  1823,  by  the  steamboat  Virginia,  the  first 
steam  vessel  to  reach  that  post.  The  crowd  of  won- 


74  MINNESOTA 

dering  Indians  gathered  on  the  levee  were  suffi- 
ciently impressed  by  the  bulk  of  the  white  man's 
fire  canoe ;  but  the  scream  of  her  steam  whistle, 
opportunely  let  out,  sent  them  scampering  far  off 
on  the  prairie. 

When  Beltrami  at  Pembina  found  Major  Long 
pointing  his  canoes  down  the  Red  River,  he  de- 
tached himself,  and  with  a  slender  outfit  and  uncer- 
tain guides  struck  out  to  the  southeast,  where  he 
expected  to  find  the  object  of  his  journey.  After  a 
few  days  of  hardship  he  reached  the  south  shore 
of  Red  Lake,  and  there  he  found  a  "  bois-brule  " 
who  guided  him  up  a  tributary  then  called  Bloody 
River.  It  is  marked  "  Mud  Creek "  on  modern 
maps.  A  short  portage  brought  him  to  a  small, 
heart-shaped  lake,  to  which  he  gave  the  name 
"Lake  Julia,"  in  memory  of  a  deceased  friend. 
Here  on  the  28th  of  August  he  reports  himself  as 
resting  at  the  most  southern  source  of  the  Red 
River  and  the  most  northern  source  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. He  found  no  visible  outlet  to  his  lakelet  and 
fancied  that  its  seepage  was  indifferently  the  true 
source  of  the  two  rivers.  His  dream  fulfilled  and 
his  ambition  satisfied,  he  made  all  possible  haste 
to  Fort  Snelling.  He  proceeded  to  New  Orleans 
and  in  the  next  year  (1824)  published  in  French 
his  "  Discovery  of  the  Sources  of  the  Mississippi." 
An  English  version  appeared  under  the  title  "  A 
Pilgrimage  in  Europe  and  America."  Lake  Julia 
is  still  on  the  map,  lying  some  two  miles  north  of 


EXPLORATIONS   AND    SETTLEMENTS        75 

Turtle  Lake,  which  David  Thompson  had  charted 
twenty-five  years  before.  The  Minnesota  geologists 
found  no  connection  between  it  and  Mississippi 
waters.  It  is  noteworty  that  Beltrami  placed  on 
his  map  a  "  Lac  la  Biche  "  as  the  "  western  source 
of  the  Mississippi,"  which  later  explorers  identified 
as  approximately  the  true  source.  This  knowledge 
he  may  have  obtained  from  the  intelligent  guide, 
whom  he  praises  highly,  but  whose  name  he  neg- 
lected to  report. 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  Henry  R.  School- 
craft, mineralogist  of  Cass's  expedition  in  1820, 
was  by  no  means  satisfied  that  Cass  Lake  was  the 
true  source  of  the  great  river.  Appointed  Indian 
agent  of  the  Chippeways,  he  resided  for  many 
years  at  the  Sault  Sainte  Marie,  longing  for 
another  plunge  into  the  wilderness  of  the  upper 
Mississippi.  It  was  not  until  1832  that  the  War 
Department,  deferring  to  Governor  Cass,  was  con- 
tent to  give  him  leave,  and  then  by  indirection 
only.  The  instructions  given  Mr.  Schoolcraft  were 
to  proceed  to  the  country  at  the  head  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, to  visit  as  many  Indians  as  circumstances 
might  permit,  to  establish  permanent  peace  among 
them,  to  look  after  the  Indian  trade  and  in  particu- 
lar the  trespasses  of  Hudson's  Bay  traders,  to  vac- 
cinate Indians  as  many  as  possible,  and  to  gather 
statistics.  He  had  no  commission  to  explore.  An 
officer  of  the  army,  Lieutenant  James  Allen,  with 
a  small  detachment  of  soldiers,  was  ordered  to  be 


70  MINNESOTA 

his  escort.  Traveling  by  way  of  Fond  du  Lac  and 
the  Savanna  portage,  Schoolcraft's  party  was  at 
Cass  Lake  on  July  10.  The  same  day  his  guide 
Ozawindib  (the  Yellovvhead)  collected  five  small 
canoes  and  made  all  needful  preparations  for  the 
further  journey,  which  began  the  morning  after. 
The  Yellowhead  led  the  party  up  to  and  across 
Lake  Bemidji,  and  from  its  southern  limb  up  an 
east  fork  now  mapped  as  the  Yellowhead  River,  to 
a  lakelet  at  its  head.  A  six-mile  portage  to  the 
west  brought  Schoolcraft,  about  two  o'clock  P.  M., 
on  the  13th  of  July,  to  a  body  of  transparent  water, 
which  his  guide  assured  him  was  the  true  source. 
In  expectation  of  that  moment  the  ardent  explorer 
had  cogitated  on  a  suitable  name.  The  missionary 
Boutwell,  already  mentioned,  was  a  member  of  his 
party,  having  joined  it  to  spy  out  the  land  for 
evangelical  work.  When  asked  by  Mr.  Schoolcraft 
the  Latin  for  "  true  source,"  the  reverend  gentle- 
man could  only  remember  that  the  Latin  for  truth 
was  Veritas,  and  for  head  cajnit ;  and  he  obligingly 
wrote  the  two  words  on  a  slip  of  paper.  The  leader 
cut  off  the  head  of  the  former  and  the  tail  of  the 
latter,  and  joining  the  remaining  syllables  made 
the  word  "  Itasca,"  as  beautiful  an  Indian  name 
as  could  be  desired.  On  the  island,  bearing  still 
his  name,  Mr.  Schoolcraft  erected  a  flagstaff,  and 
flew  the  American  colors.  Lieutenant  Allen  in  his 
report  uses  the  French  name  Lac  la  Biche,  the 
same  communicated  to  Beltrami.  How  much  atten- 


EXPLORATIONS   AND   SETTLEMENTS        77 

tion  the  explorer  gave  to  gathering  statistics,  vac- 
cinating Indians,  pacifying  the  Indians,  and  the 
like,  may  be  inferred  from  the  promptness  with 
which  he  set  out  for  home  the  very  same  day,  and 
the  speed  of  his  journey.  Taking  an  unused  canoe 
route  via  Leech  Lake  and  the  headwaters  of  the 
Crow  Wing,  he  was  at  Fort  Suelling  on  the  24th 
of  July.  Leaving  his  escort,  without  a  guide  he 
hastened  with  all  possible  celerity  by  the  St.  Croix- 
Brule  route  to  "  the  Sault."  In  his  report  to  the 
War  Department,  dated  December  3,  1832,  he 
makes  not  the  slightest  reference  to  his  excursion 
from  Cass  Lake  to  Itasca.  His  published  narrative, 
however,  shows  no  such  gap.  He  had  no  orders  to 
discover  anything. 

What  fortune  or  misfortune  brought  the  French 
astronomer,  Jos.  N.  Nicollet,  to  this  country  early 
in  the  thirties  is  not  well  known.  Like  Beltrami, 
he  had  the  fever  for  exploration  and  discovery.  In 
the  midsummer  of  183G  this  gentleman  went  from 
Fort  Snelling  up  to  Leech  Lake,  where  he  was 
sheltered  by  the  missionary  Boutwell.  Here  he 
found  guides  who  took  him  by  a  new  route  out  of 
the  west  arm  of  Leech  Lake  to  Lake  Itasca  at  the 
point  reached  by  Schoolcraft.  He  made  camp  on 
Schoolcraft's  Island  and  proceeded  to  take  its  lati- 
tude, longitude,  and  height  above  sea.  So  far  he 
was  merely  confirming  the  work  of  Schoolcraft 
and  Allen.  Selecting  the  largest  of  three  tributary 
inlets,  he  traced  it  three  miles  through  two  lakelets 


78  MINNESOTA 

to  a  third,  from  wliich  he  found  "  the  infant  Missis- 
sippi flowing  with  a  breadth  of  a  foot  and  a  half, 
and  a  depth  of  one  foot."  In  the  years  1889  and 
1891  J.  V.  Brower,  commissioned  by  the  Minne- 
sota Historical  Society  and  the  governor  of  Min- 
nesota, devoted  many  months  to  a  careful  examina- 
tion of  the  region  above  (south  of)  Itasca  Lake. 
The  result  was  the  confirmation  of  Nicollet's  work, 
with  a  further  discovery  of  an  "  ultimate  bowl "  in 
the  highlands  (Hauteurs  des  Terres)  from  which 
Nicollet's  lakes  were  fed.  And  then  the  long  quest 
came  to  an  end. 

The  first  white  settlers  in  Minnesota,  or  rather 
squatters,  for  the  region  was  not  open  to  settle- 
ment for  nearly  twenty  years  after  the  military 
occupation,  came  from  an  unexpected  quarter,  A 
Scotch  nobleman,  the  Earl  of  Selkirk,  of  a  romantic 
turn,  formed  a  scheme  for  relieving  congested  Eu- 
ropean districts  by  planting  colonies  abroad,  and 
in  Canada  preferably  to  the  United  States.  He 
bought  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  a  tract  of 
something  over  100,000  square  miles,  south  and  west 
of  Lake  Winnipeg,  and  in  1812  sent  over  a  small 
party  of  Highlanders  and  a  few  Irish.  Later  addi- 
tions were  made  to  the  colony,  among  them  two  hun- 
dred Scotch  in  1815.  What  with  the  persecutions 
of  the  bois-brul^s,  of  the  Northwest  Company,  the 
destruction  of  crops  by  rats,  grasshoppers,  early 
frosts,  and  high  water,  the  colonists  led  a  stormy 


EXPLORATIONS   AND   SETTLEMENTS        79 

and  precarious  life  for  some  years ;  but  they  sur- 
vived. In  1821  came  a  party  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  or  more  Swiss  clockmakers,  wiled  from  their 
homes  by  the  seductive  allurements  of  an  ingenious 
agent. 

When  the  deluded  people  reached  Fort  Doug- 
lass and  Pembina  they  found  things  far  different 
from  their  expectations.  Five  families  at  once  took 
the  trail  for  the  American  fort.  Two  years  later 
thirteen  more  families  followed.  In  1826,  after  a 
devouring  flood  in  the  Red  River,  two  hundred  and 
forty-three  persons,  Swiss  and  others,  left  Pembina 
for  the  south.  In  following  years  the  migration 
continued,  and  by  183G  nearly  five  hundred  had 
come  over  the  border.  The  greater  number  of  them 
journeyed  on  to  the  French  settlements  down  the 
river  in  Illinois  and  Missouri,  but  many  preferred  to 
tarry  on  the  Fort  Snelling  reservation.  The  mili- 
tary gave  them  protection,  allowed  them  \o  pasture 
their  cattle  and  cut  grass  on  the  bottoms,  and  to 
fence  in  and  cultivate  considerable  farms. 

The  reports  of  the  military,  the  open  secrets  of 
the  American  Fur  Company,  the  revelations  of  ex- 
plorers, and  later  the  correspondence  of  mission- 
aries, at  length  made  the  upper  Mississippi  valley 
known  as  a  land  of  promise.  Travelers  from  Fort 
Snelling  to  "  the  head  of  the  lake  "  by  the  old  St. 
Croix  canoe  route  had  disclosed  the  existence  of 
magnificent  bodies  of  pine  timber.  A  market  for 
pine  lumber  had  been  opened  about  the  Galena 


80  MINNESOTA 

and  Dubuque  lead  mines  and  the  prairie  regions 
abutting  on  the  river.  The  voracious  lumbermen 
of  Wisconsin,  mostly  emigrants  from  Maine,  were 
fierce  to  get  their  axes  into  this  pine.  As  early  as 
1822  a  sawmill  had  been  built  on  the  Chippeway 
River  near  Menominee,  and  the  stumpage  bought 
of  Wabashaw,  chief  of  the  lower  Sioux,  for  one 
thousand  dollars  a  year  in  goods.  But  there  was 
no  white  man's  country  in  Minnesota,  except  the 
Fort  Snelling  tract  bought  by  Pike  in  1805  and 
paid  for  in  1819,  and  that  was  not  open  to  settle- 
ment, unless  by  tolerance  of  the  military.  The  time 
came  for  extending  the  area  of  settlement  and  cul- 
tivation, and  that  was  effected  by  two  Indian  trea- 
ties made  in  1837.  By  a  treaty  with  the  lower  Sioux 
the  United  States  acquired  all  their  lands  east  of 
the  Mississippi  up  to  the  Sioux-Chippeway  parti- 
tion line  of  1825.  The  consideration  was  a  half 
million  dollars;  but  two  hundred  thousand  dollars 
went  to  the  traders  and  half-breeds  in  nearly  equal 
sums.  That  was  the  price  paid  by  the  government 
for  the  use  of  their  influence  with  the  Indians.  The 
Chippeways  sold  east  of  the  Mississippi  from  the 
partition  line  up  to  the  line  running  a  little  north 
of  east  from  the  mouth  of  the  Crow  Wing  River. 
The  delta  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  St. 
Croix  up  to  the  Crow  Wing  line  was  thus  opened 
to  settlement  on  the  ratification  of  the  treaties,  on 
June  15,  1838.  When  the  tidings  of  the  ratifica- 
tion reached  Fort  Snelling  a  month  later,  the  grass 


EXPLORATIONS  AND  SETTLEMENTS        81 

did  not  grow  under  the  feet  of  waiting  citizens, 
who  had  made  notes  of  good  locations.  A  claim 
abutting  on  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  on  the  east 
bank,  was  staked  out  before  daylight  of  the  follow- 
ing morning,  and  the  falls  of  the  St.  Croix  were  pre- 
empted before  sunset,  all  in  accordance  with  law 
and  custom. 

The  first  collection  of  people  in  Minnesota,  aside 
from  the  garrison  of  Fort  Snelling,  was  the  little 
handet  of  Mendota,  inhabited  by  French,  half- 
breeds,  and  their  Indian  wives  and  children.  At 
times  its  numbers  were  swelled  by  traders  from  out- 
posts coming  in  to  headquarters  to  bring  their  furs 
and  obtain  supplies.  Mendota  is  a  French  hamlet 
to-day.  The  first  American  settlement  was  made  at 
Marine,  on  the  St.  Croix,  early  in  1839,  where  a  saw- 
mill was  put  into  operation  August  24.  In  the  year 
following,  on  a  claim  previously  made,  Joseph  R. 
Brown  laid  out  the  town  site  of  Dakotah  on  land 
now  forming  a  part  of  Stillwater.  This  city  was 
not  laid  out  till  1843,  when  settlement  was  begun 
in  full  confidence  that  Stillwater  was  to  be  the  great 
city  of  the  region.  Its  progress  for  a  few  years 
seemed  to  justify  that  expectation.  Later  many  of 
its  people  migrated  to  the  new  towns  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi. In  the  year  of  the  treaties  (1837)  the 
officer  commanding  at  Fort  Snelling  had  a  survey 
made,  to  carve  out  of  the  Pike  tract  of  nine  by 
eighteen  miles  the  land  to  be  held  by  the  govern- 
ment for  military  use.  The  bounds  included  prac- 


82  MINNESOTA 

tically  all  of  Reserve  Township  of  Ramsay  County, 
the  east  line  passing  through  the  "Seven  Corners  " 
of  St.  Paul.  Because  of  growing  scarcity  of  tim- 
ber, and  alleged  trespasses  of  the  squatters,  Major 
Plympton  in  the  spring  of  1838  ordered  all  those 
settled  on  the  main  reserve  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi to  move  over  to  the  east  side.  A  very  few  had 
sufficient  foresight  to  place  themselves  beyond  the 
military  lines,  —  among  them  one  Pierre  Parrant, 
a  Canadian  voyageur,  who,  not  waiting  for  the 
ratification,  built  a  whiskey  shanty  near  the  issue 
of  the  streamlet  from  Fountain  Cave,  in  upper 
St.  Paul,  thus  becoming  the  first  inhabitant  of  that 
city.  The  evicted  Swiss  mostly  settled  on  ground 
within  easy  reach  of  the  fort,  and  there  built  their 
cabins  anew.  They  were,  however,  not  long  allowed 
that  indulgence.  Their  number  was  reinforced  by 
a  few  voyageurs,  discharged  soldiers,  and  perhaps 
some  other  whites.  Among  the  whites  were  a  few 
who  opened  grog-shops  at  which  the  custom  of  the 
soldiers  was  very  welcome.  These  places  became  so 
intolerable  that  the  commandant  begged  the  War 
Department  to  require  all  squatters  to  get  off  the 
reservation.  His  recommendation  was  adopted,  and 
on  the  6th  of  May,  1840,  a  deputy  United  States 
marshal,  supported  by  a  detachment  of  soldiers, 
drove  them  all  over  the  lines  and  destroyed  their 
cabins.  What  did  they  do  but  reestablish  them- 
selves just  beyond  the  line,  about  Parrant's  claim  ? 
French   fashion,  they  grouped   their  cabins   and 


EXPLORATIONS  AND  SETTLEMENTS        83 

formed  a  little  French  village,  the  nucleus  of  the 
capital  city  of  Minnesota.  A  memorial  of  the  evicted 
Swiss  to  Congress  for  indemnity  for  loss  of  im- 
provements on  land  they  had  been  suffered  to 
occupy  and  cultivate,  and  for  the  destruction  of 
their  shelters,  was  ignored. 

At  all  the  trading  stations  of  the  American  Fur 
Company  there  was  a  group  of  employees  and 
hangers-on.  At  Mendota,  the  headquarters,  the 
number  was  greater  tlian  elsewhere.  In  1837  there 
were  twenty-five  such.  When  in  July,  1839,  Bishop 
Loras  of  Dubuque  made  a  visitation  there,  he 
found  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  Catholics  gath- 
ered in  to  approach  the  sacraments  of  the  church. 
In  May  of  the  following  year  the  Rev.  Lucius  Gal- 
tier,  sent  up  on  an  hour's  notice  from  Dubuque, 
reached  Mendota  to  begin  a  mission  there.  He 
naturally  took  under  his  care  the  Catholic  families 
just  then  getting  themselves  under  cover  on  the 
hillsides  nearly  opposite.  November  1,  1841,  he 
blessed  a  little  log  chapel  the  people  had  built 
under  his  direction,  and  dedicated  "the  new  basil- 
ica" to  St.  Paul,  "the  apostle  of  the  nations."  The 
name  "  St.  Paul's  landing,"  for  a  time  used,  gave 
way  to  the  more  convenient  St.  Paul's  and,  later, 
to  "  St.  Paul."  Pere  Galtier,  however,  remained  at 
the  more  considerable  Mendota  till  called  to  other 
duty  in  1844.  Father  Ravoux,  succeeding  him, 
divided  his  time  between  the  two  hamlets  till  1849. 

Up  to  1845  St.  Paul  was  a  straggling  French 


84  MINNESOTA 

village  of  some  thirty  families,  a  floating  popula- 
tion of  voyageurs  and  workmen,  to  which  two  or 
three  independent  traders  had  joined  themselves. 
In  the  next  years  Americans  arrived  in  increasing 
numbers.  In  1846  a  post-office  was  established, 
and  in  the  year  after  a  regular  line  of  steamboats 
began  to  ply  down  river  in  the  season. 

The  city  at  the  falls  was  later  in  getting  its  start. 
The  lucky  citizen  who  preempted  the  land  abreast 
of  the  falls  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Mississippi  did 
not  lay  out  his  town  site  of  St.  Anthony's  Falls 
till  late  in  1847.  A  sawmill  built  that  year  went 
into  operation  the  next,  and  the  manufacture  of 
lumber  has  since  remained  a  leading  industry.  At 
Pembina,  in  the  extreme  northwest  corner  of  Min- 
nesota, was  an  aggregation  of  French  half-breeds 
of  some  hundreds.  The  rural  population  of  the 
whole  region  well  into  the  fifties  was  very  sparse. 
A  few  farms  had  been  opened  along  the  St.  Croix 
in  Washington  County.  The  principal  part  of  the 
subsistence  for  man  and  beast  was  brought  up  from 
below  in  steamboats. 

When  Iowa  Territory  was  organized  in  1838, 
Wisconsin  Territory  was  restricted  on  the  west  to 
the  line  of  the  Mississippi.  Minnesota  East  then 
formed  part  of  Crawford  County  of  the  latter  terri- 
tory. In  the  same  year  the  governor  of  Wisconsin 
appointed  as  justice  of  the  peace  for  that  county 
a  man  who  was  to  play  a  conspicuous  part  in 
Minnesota  affairs.  Joseph  Renshaw  Brown  came 


EXPLORATIONS   AND   SETTLEMENTS        85 

to  Minnesota  as  a  drummer-boy  of  fourteen  with 
the  Fifth  Infantry  in  1819.  Honorably  discharged 
from  that  command  some  six  or  seven  years  later, 
he  went  into  the  Indian  trade  at  different  posts,  at 
some  of  which  he  opened  farms.  He  appreciated,  as 
perhaps  no  other  man  in  the  region  did  so  clearly, 
the  possibilities  of  the  future,  and  was  fitted  by 
nature,  education,  and  experience  to  lead.  In  1840 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Wisconsin  teri'i- 
torial  legislature  from  St.  Croix  County,  a  new 
jurisdiction  separated  from  Crawford  County  by 
a  meridian  through  the  mouth  of  the  Porcupine 
River,  a  small  affluent  of  Lake  Pepin.  The  county 
seat  was  of  course  Mr.  Brown's  town  of  Dakotah, 
already  mentioned.  There  is  reason  to  surmise  a 
disappointed  expectation  that  this  to^\'n  might  be- 
come the  capital  of  a  state.  In  1836  Congress 
passed  an  enabling  act  in  the  usual  form  for  the 
promotion  of  Wisconsin  to  statehood.  About  the 
same  time  the  Wisconsin  delegate  introduced  a 
bill  to  establish  the  Territory  of  Minnesota.  It  was 
understood  that  Mr.  Sibley  would  be  the  first  gov- 
ernor and  that  Mr.  Brown  would  not  be  neglected. 
The  bill  passed  the  House  and  reached  its  third 
reading  in  the  Senate,  when  it  was  tabled  on  the 
suggestion  of  an  eastern  senator  that  the  popula- 
tion was  far  too  scanty  to  warrant  a  territorial 
organization. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  TERRITORr   ORGANIZED 

On  May  29,  1848,  Wisconsin  was  admitted  to  the 
Union  as  a  state,  with  her  western  boundary  fixed 
where  it  has  since  remained,  on  the  St.  Croix  River 
line.  Congress  having  refused  to  extend  "Wiscon- 
sin's area  to  the  Rum  River  line.  The  delta  between 
the  St.  Croix  and  the  Mississippi  was  politically  left 
in  the  air.  In  the  earlier  correspondence  and  per- 
sonal conferences  of  Minnesotians  the  only  thought 
was  of  obtaining  from  Congress  the  establishment 
of  a  new  territory.  On  August  4  a  call  signed  by 
eighteen  prominent  residents  of  the  wished-f  or  ter- 
ritory was  issued,  for  a  convention  to  be  held  at 
Stillwater  on  the  26th.  Sixty -one  delegates  ap- 
peared and  took  part  in  what  has  since  been  known 
as  "the  Stillwater  Convention  "  of  1848.  The  pro- 
ceedings resulted  in  two  memorials,  one  to  the  Presi- 
dent, the  other  to  Congress,  both  praying  for  the 
organization  of  a  new  territory ;  in  corresponding 
resolutions ;  in  the  raising  of  a  committee  to  prose- 
cute the  purposes  of  the  convention  ;  and  in  the  elec- 
tion of  Henry  H.  Sibley  as  a  "  delegate  "  to  pro- 
ceed to  Washington  and  urge  immediate  action. 
The  late  governor  of  Wisconsin  Territory,  Hon. 


THE  TERRITORY  ORGANIZED  87 

Henry  Dodge,  had  been  elected  United  States  sen- 
ator. The  secretary  of  the  territory  had  been  Mr. 
John  Catlin.  A  letter  written  by  him  August  22 
was  read  before  the  Stillwater  convention.  It  em- 
bodied the  suggestion  that  the  Territory  of  Wis- 
consin might  be  considered  as  surviving  in  the 
excluded  area.  He  transmitted  a  letter  from  James 
Buchanan,  Secretary  of  State,  expressing  the  opin- 
ion that  the  laws  of  Wisconsin  Territory  were  still 
in  force  therein,  and  that  judges  of  probate,  sheriffs, 
justices  of  the  peace,  and  constables  might  lawfully 
exercise  their  offices.  Such  being  the  case,  what 
was  there  to  hinder  him,  Mr.  Catlin,  from  assuming 
the  position  of  acting-governor  of  Wisconsin  Ter- 
ritory, and  performing  the  proper  duties  ?  In  par- 
ticular, why  might  he  not  appoint  an  election  for 
the  choice  of  a  delegate  to  Congress  in  a  regular 
manner,  if  a  vacancy  should  occur?  His  judgment 
was  that  a  delegate  elected  "  under  color  of  law  " 
would  not  be  denied  a  seat.  This  scheme,  which 
seems  to  have  made  no  impression  on  the  Stillwater 
convention,  was  rapidly  incubated  after  its  disper- 
sion. Mr.  Catlin  took  up  a  constructive  residence 
at  Stillwater.  John  H.  Tweedy,  delegate  from 
Wisconsin  Territory  to  the  Thirtieth  Congress, 
obligingly  put  in  his  resignation.  Thereupon  Act- 
ing-Governor Catlin  issued  a  call  for  an  election  of 
a  delegate  to  be  held  on  the  30th  of  October.  The 
result  was  the  choice  of  Mr.  Sibley  against  a  slight 
and  ineffective  opposition. 


88  MINNESOTA 

The  delegate-elect  presented  himself  at  the  door 
of  the  national  House  of  Representatives  at  the 
opening  of  the  second  session  of  the  Thirtieth  Con- 
gress. His  credentials  had  the  usual  reference  to 
the  committee  on  elections.  Mr.  Sibley's  argument 
was  ingenious  and  exhaustive,  and  it  proved  effect- 
ive, for  the  committee  absorbed  its  substance  into 
their  favorable  report.  On  January  15,  1849,  the 
House  by  a  vote  of  124  to  62  accorded  Mr.  Sibley 
his  seat  as  delegate  from  Wisconsin.  The  same 
House  refused,  however,  to  make  any  appropriation 
for  the  expenses  of  a  territory  existing  by  virtue  of 
mere  geographical  exclusion.  A  bill  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Territory  of  Minnesota  had  been 
introduced  into  the  Senate  in  the  previous  session. 
It  was  identical  with  that  which  had  been  strangled 
on  the  last  day  of  the  Twenty-ninth  Congress.  Mr. 
Sibley  properly  devoted  himself  to  advancing  the 
progress  of  the  bill.  It  was  promptly  passed  by  the 
Senate,  but  it  lagged  in  the  House.  The  Whig  ma- 
jority had  no  consuming  desire  to  favor  a  beginning 
likely  to  result  in  a  Democratic  delegation  from  a 
new  state.  They  therefore  clapped  on  an  amend- 
ment, to  which  the  Senate  could  not  possiblj'  agree, 
that  the  act  shoidd  take  effect  March  10,  six  days 
after  the  expiry  of  President  Polk's  term  of  office. 
The  end  of  the  session  was  but  four  days  away.  A 
House  bill  for  the  establishment  of  a  Department 
of  the  Interior  was  still  pending  in  the  Senate.  It 
provided  for  a  goodly  number  of  officials  to  be 


THE   TERRITOKY   ORGANIZED  89 

named  by  the  incoming  Whig  President.  Senator 
Douglas,  acting  foi*  colleagues,  authorized  Mr.  Sib- 
ley to  give  out  to  his  Whig  opponents  that  the 
Senate  would  be  better  disposed  to  passing  their 
interior  department  measure  if  they  should  find  it 
ajrreeable  to  recede  from  their  offensive  amend- 
ment  to  the  Minnesota  bill.  On  the  last  day  of  the 
session  Mr.  Sibley  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  his 
bill  pass,  under  suspension  of  the  rules,  without 
opposition.  No  one  was  so  much  surprised  at  the 
outcome  as  Mr.  Sibley  himself.  It  took  thirty-seven 
days  for  the  good  news  to  reach  St.  Paul  by  the 
first  steamer  of  the  season  from  below.  The  bound- 
aries of  the  new  territory  were  those  of  the  state 
later  admitted,  except  that  the  west  line  was  pushed 
out  to  the  Missouri  River,  thus  including  an  area 
of  some  166,000  square  miles.  The  governorship 
fell  to  Alexander  Ramsey  of  Pennsylvania,  then 
thirty-four  years  of  age,  who  deserved  well  of  his 
party  in  its  late  campaign  and  had  done  some  ex- 
cellent service  as  a  member  of  the  Twenty-eighth 
and  Twenty-ninth  Congresses.  lie  had  been  well 
educated  in  the  best  school,  that  of  a  life  of  indus- 
try and  aspiration.  Clear-headed,  cautious,  patient, 
he  knew  how  to  anticipate  the  courses  of  things 
and  to  plan  for  the  probabilities  of  the  future.  He 
identified  himself  from  the  first  with  his  new  terri- 
tory, and  remained  to  the  end  of  his  long  life,  in 
1903,  a  steadfast,  loyal  IMinnesotian. 

On  May  27,  in  a  small  bedroom  in  Bass's  log 


90  MINNESOTA 

tavern  on  the  site  of  the  Merchant's  Hotel  in  St. 
Paul,  Mr.  Ramsey  wrote  out  on  a  little  unpainted 
washstand  his  i^roclamation  declaring  the  territory 
duly  established.  On  June  11  he  announced  the 
division  of  his  immense  jurisdiction  into  three  pro- 
visional counties,  assigning  to  each  one  of  the  three 
judges,  Goodrich,  Sherburne,  and  Meeker,  who  had 
been  appointed  by  the  President.  At  the  same 
time  he  directed  the  sheriff  of  St.  Croix  County  to 
make  a  census  of  the  population.  The  reported 
total  did  not  measure  up  to  the  conjectures  of 
hopeful  citizens.  After  counting  the  317  soldiers 
at  "  the  Fort,"  all  the  attaches  of  the  trading  posts, 
637  dwellers  at  Pembina  and  QQ  on  the  Missouri 
River,  the  footing  stood  at  4780  souls. 

Pursuant  to  the  organic  act  Governor  Ramsey 
by  proclamation  of  July  7  divided  the  territory  into 
seven  council  districts,  and  ordered  an  election  for 
August  1.  The  first  territorial  legislature  that  day 
elected,  consisting  of  nine  councilors  and  eighteen 
representatives,  met  at  St.  Paul,  September  4.  The 
organic  act  having  provided  that  the  laws  in  force 
in  the  late  Territory  of  Wisconsin  should  remain 
in  operation  until  altered  or  repealed  by  the  Min- 
nesota territorial  legislature,  this  inexperienced 
body  was  not  heavily  burdened.  The  most  notable 
enactment  was  that  for  the  establishment  of  a  sys- 
tem of  free  schools  for  all  children  and  youth  of 
the  territor}',  introduced  by  Martin  McLeod,  but 
probably  drawn  up  by  the  Rev.  Edward  Duffield 


THE   TERRITORY  ORGANIZED  91 

Neill,  the  well-known  historian  of  Minnesota.  A 
bill  passed  October  20,  incorporating  the  Min- 
nesota Historical  Society,  was  doubtless  from  the 
same  hand.  Governor  Ramsey's  message  of  1849 
was  much  extended  by  an  account  of  the  Indian 
tribes  of  the  territory,  prepared  for  him  by  Dr. 
Thomas  Foster. 

There  was  no  legislative  session  in  1850.  The 
statutes  of  1851  embrace  but  few  of  notable  impor- 
tance. After  a  long  and  bitter  struggle  the  capital, 
temporarily  placed  by  the  organic  act  at  St.  Paul, 
was  permanently  located  in  that  town.  To  secure 
the  majority  vote  it  was  necessary  to  concede  to 
Stillwater  the  state  prison  and  to  St.  Anthony 
the  university.  The  evidence  of  a  formal  "  tripar- 
tite agreement  "  to  this  arrangement  is  lacking, 
but  it  is  probable  that  an  understanding  or  ex- 
pectation influenced  the  voting.  The  diligence  with 
which  a  body  composed  largely  of  fur-traders  and 
lumbermen  overhauled  a  revision  of  the  territorial 
laws,  prepared  by  a  committee  of  lawyers,  bears 
testimony  to  a  zeal  for  duty.  The  result  was  the 
well-known  "  Code  of  1851."  It  embodied  substan- 
tially the  New  York  code  of  procedure.  The  gen- 
eral incorporation  law  did  not  include  railroad 
corporations.  An  act  of  1852  ])rohibiting  the 
manufactui'e  and  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  was 
submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  electors  and  ratified  by 
a  vote  of  853  to  662.  Before  the  year  was  out  the 
supreme  court  of  the  territory,  on  an  appeal  from 


92  MINNESOTA 

below,  ruled  the  act  to  be  unconstitutional  on  the 
ground  that  the  organic  law  having  vested  all  legis- 
lative power  in  the  legislative  bodies,  the  referen- 
dum was  inoperative.  In  1853  equity  procedure 
was  conformed  to  that  of  civil  actions. 

The  dominating  feature  of  Governor  Ramsey's 
territorial  governorship  was  the  extinguishment  of 
the  Indian  title  of  occupancy  to  all  the  lands  of 
the  Sioux  in  Minnesota,  except  the  small  reserva- 
tions. No  time  was  lost  by  interested  parties  in 
impressing  on  Mr.  Ramsey  the  importance  of  in- 
creasing the  area  of  settlement  in  his  territory. 
Land  speculators  and  lumbermen  desired  an  en- 
largement of  their  spheres  of  operation.  The  Indian 
traders,  who  in  previous  years  would  have  opposed 
a  treaty  of  cession,  were  at  this  time,  under  changed 
circumstances,  eager.  The  hunting  of  wild  animals 
for  their  pelts  had  greatly  reduced  their  numbers, 
so  that  the  trade  had  dwindled.  The  prospect  of 
profits  in  land  speculation  appeared  likely  to  ex- 
ceed those  of  Indian  trading.  The  traders  also  were 
of  opinion  that  it  was  about  time  for  a  substantial 
liquidation  of  Indian  debts  due  them.  The  half- 
breeds  and  squaw  men  had,  as  we  shall  see,  a  strong 
desire  for  a  treaty.  Moved  by  what  seemed  a  gen- 
eral demand.  Governor  Ramsay  recommended  to 
the  first  territorial  legislature  that  they  memorialize 
Congress  to  provide  for  a  treaty  of  cession  with  the 
Sioux.  That  body  promptly  complied.   The   com- 


THE  TERRITORY  ORGANIZED  93 

missioner  of  Indian  affairs  had  meantime  been  in- 
terested to  such  a  degree  that  he  arranged  for  a 
treaty,  and  to  pay  the  expenses  out  of  funds  already 
at  his  disposal.  He  appointed  as  commissioners  to 
conduct  the  negotiation  Governor  Ramsey,  being 
already  superintendent  ex-officio  of  Indian  affairs 
in  his  territory,  and  the  Hon.  John  Chambers  of 
Iowa,  and  furnished  them  a  body  of  instructions, 
which  served  more  than  the  immediate  purpose. 
He  restricted  their  expenditure  for  presents  to 
($6000.  The  Sioux  were  summoned  by  runners  to 
come  in  to  council  in  October.  The  commissioner 
of  Indian  affairs  was  precipitate.  The  traders  were 
not  quite  ready,  and  there  were  prominent  citizens 
in  St.  Paul  who  feared  that  a  big  cession  of  Indian 
lands  west  of  the  river  might  give  Mendota  a  dan- 
gerous precedence.  But  few  of  the  Sioux  came  in, 
and  they  were  unwilling  to  treat.  The  effort  aborted. 
Its  success  might  have  secured  for  Governor  Ram- 
sey political  rewards  for  which  he  had  to  wait.  The 
Indian  appropriation  bill  of  1850,  carrying  il5,000 
for  the  expenses  of  treating,  was  not  approved  till 
September  30.  The  season  was  too  late  for  the 
assemblage  of  the  Indians,  widely  scattered  on 
their  fall  hunts.  Then  ensued  a  contention,  last- 
ing many  months,  over  the  appointment  of  a  col- 
league to  Governor  Ramsey  for  the  negotiation  of 
the  treaty.  At  one  time  it  appeared  that  a  trading 
interest  adverse  to  the  American  Fur  Company 
had  virtually  succeeded  in   securing  the  appoint- 


94  MINNESOTA 

ment  of  a  gentleman  from  Indiana  on  whom  it  could 
depend.  To  dispose  of  this  and  other  aspirants, 
an  amendment  was  tacked  on  to  the  proper  para- 
graph of  the  Indian  appropriation  hill  of  the  ses- 
sion, providing  that  commissioners  making  Indian 
treaties  should  thereafter  be  selected  from  officials 
of  the  Indian  Bureau,  to  serve  without  extra  com- 
pensation. The  contemplated  treaty  with  the  Sioux 
involving  a  cession  of  many  millions  of  acres  and 
large  disbursements  for  a  long  time,  the  commis- 
sioner of  Indian  affairs,  the  Hon.  Luke  Lea  of 
Mississippi,  resolved  to  act  in  person. 

The  Minnesota  Sioux  comprised  four  of  the  seven 
tribes  of  the  nation,  and  were  themselves  geogra- 
phically divided  into  "upper"  and  "lower"  Sioux. 
The  two  upper  tribes  were  the  Sissetons  and  Wah- 
p^tons.  The  former  had  their  villages  on  lakes  Big 
Stone  and  Traverse,  the  latter  on  the  upper  reaches 
of  the  Minnesota  River,  with  some  sandwiching  of 
bands.  The  lower  Sioux  were  the  Medawakantons 
and  the  Wah-pe-ku-tes  :  the  villages  of  the  former 
were  strung  along  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi 
from  Winona  to  Fort  Snelling  and  on  up  the  ISIin- 
nesota  to  Belle  Plaine.  The  Wah-p^-ku-tes  dwelt 
on  the  headwaters  of  the  Cannon  River,  in  what 
Nicollet  called  his  "  Undine  region."  As  they  were 
averse,  like  all  barbarians,  to  having  their  numbers 
counted,  the  Indian  Bureau  up  to  the  time  when 
all  became  "  annuity  Indians  "  could  only  guess  at 
the  population.   Eight  thousand  was  the  general 


THE  TERRITORY  ORGANIZED  95 

estimate  at  the  middle  of  the  century.  Each  tribe 
was  subdivided  into  bands  of  unequal  numbers, 
each  under  its  own  chief.  The  bands  of  each  tribe 
recognized  one  of  the  older  and  most  capable  chiefs 
as  their  head  chief.  Wabashaw  was  head  chief  of 
the  Medawakantons.  The  instructions  of  1849,  al- 
ready mentioned,  charged  the  commissioners  to 
make  but  one  treaty,  advised  them  to  promise  no 
money  payments,  and  forbade  them  to  provide  for 
debts  due  by  Indians  to  the  traders.  The  reader 
can  surmise  why  no  Indians  came  to  treat. 

The  new  commissioner  of  Indian  affairs  did  not 
of  course  have  to  instruct  himself,  and  he  appears 
to  have  relaxed  the  conditions  imposed  by  his  pre- 
decessor. At  any  rate,  he  soon  found  out  that  if 
he  wished  to  make  a  treaty  it  would  be  necessary 
for  him  to  pay  some  money,  and  to  arrange  for  the 
payment  of  traders'  claims.  Because  of  a  diversity 
of  these  claims  against  the  upper  and  the  lower 
Sioux  it  was  desired  that  separate  treaties  be  made. 
This  was  conceded.  Because  the  upper  tribes  were 
thought  to  be  less  opposed  to  a  treaty  and  a  cession, 
it  was  decided  to  begin  with  them ;  and  those  In- 
dians were  summoned  to  council  on  July  1  at  Tra- 
verse des  Sioux.  The  commissioners  and  their  party 
found  on  their  arrival  none  but  those  there  resident. 
It  was  not  till  the  18th  that  enough  of  the  upper 
bands  had  come  in  to  warrant  negotiation.  Mean- 
time the  disinclination  of  the  Indians  had  been 
mitigated  by  the  rations  of  pork,  beef,  and  flour 


96  MINNESOTA 

dispensed  by  the  commissary,  and  presents  to  re- 
luctant chiefs.  On  July  23  the  treaty  was  signed 
in  duplicate.  As  the  chiefs  left  the  table  they  were 
"  pulled  by  the  blanket "  and  steered  to  another, 
where  they  touched  the  pen  to  a  third  document, 
which  later  became  notorious  under  the  name  of 
"  the  traders'  paper."  The  upper  Sioux  by  this 
treaty  sold  to  the  United  States  all  their  lands  in 
Minnesota  for  $1,665,000,  except  a  reservation 
twenty  miles  wide  straddling  the  Minnesota  River, 
from  Lake  Traverse  down  to  the  Yellow  Medicine 
River.  The  principal  consideration  was  an  annual 
payment  of  $68,000  for  fifty  years,  of  which  $40,000 
was  to  be  cash.  The  United  States  also  engaged  to 
expend  $30,000  for  schools,  mills,  blacksmith  shops, 
and  like  beneficial  purposes,  to  remove  the  Indians 
to  their  new  homes,  and  to  provide  them  with  sub- 
sistence for  one  year.  A  residue  of  $210,000  was 
to  be  paid  to  the  chiefs  in  such  manner  as  they 
should  thereafter  in  open  council  request,  to  en- 
able them  "  to  settle  their  afPairs  and  comply  with 
their  present  engagements  " ;  in  plain  English,  to 
pay  the  claims  of  the  traders.  The  traders'  paper 
amounted  to  an  assignment  in  blank  of  this  whole 
sum.  The  schedule  of  claims  was  not  attached  to  the 
paper  till  the  next  day.  On  the  question  whether 
the  chiefs  who  signed  knew  what  they  were  doing, 
the  evidence  is  conflicting.  On  August  5  a  second 
treaty,  ceding  the  same  lands,  was  signed  at  Men- 
dota.  The  reservation  for  the  lower  bands  was  also 


THE  TERRITORY  ORGANIZED  97 

on  the  Minnesota  River,  extending  from  the  upper 
reserve  down  to  the  neighborhood  of  New  Ulm. 
Each  of  the  two  tribes  agreed  to  pay  traders' 
claims  to  the  amount  of  i|90,000.  The  lower  Sioux 
were  encouraged  to  conclude  the  bargain  by  a 
promise  that  130,000  out  of  a  150,000  "educa- 
tion "  fund  provided  for  in  the  treaty  of  1837  and 
never  paid,  but  allowed  to  accumulate,  should  be 
distributed,  so  soon  as  the  treaty  should  be  signed. 
The  money  was  paid,  and  within  a  week  it  was  in 
the  hands  of  St.  Paul  merchants  and  whiskey  sell- 
ers ;  $10,000  or  thereabout  went  for  horses.  The 
commissioners  congratulated  themselves  and  the 
country  on  this  magnificent  purchase  of  a  region 
larger  than  New  York,  at  a  cost  of  the  "  sum  paid 
in  hand."  The  annual  payments  promised  would, 
they  figured,  be  equaled  by  the  interest  from  the 
lands. 

The  treaties  awaited  the  action  of  the  Senate. 
Before  that  body  convened  in  the  December  follow- 
ing, representations  were  made  to  the  authorities 
at  Washington  that  a  "  stupendous  fraud "  had 
been  practiced  on  the  Sioux.  The  upper  Sioux,  in- 
spired by  a  trader  attached  to  an  interest  adverse 
to  the  American  Fur  Company,  which  had  not  ob- 
tained recognition  for  its  claims,  were  much  excited. 
In  December  twenty-one  chiefs  resorted  to  St. 
Paul,  where  they  represented  to  Agent  McLean 
and  Governor  Ramsey  that  their  signatures  to  the 
traders'  paper  were  obtained  by  fraud  and  deceit. 


98  MINNESOTA 

They  declared  that  their  bands  owed  no  such  sums 
of  money,  but  were  willing  to  pay  what  sums  a  fair 
examination  of  the  claims  might  prove  to  be  just. 
The  agent  promised  to  report  their  protest  and  de- 
mands to  his  superiors,  which  he  did.  Governor 
Kamsey  had  only  to  assure  the  chiefs  that  as  ti-eaty 
commissioner  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  traders' 
claims.  The  money  would  be  paid  to  their  chiefs 
and  braves,  and  it  was  for  them  to  dispose  of  it  as 
they  thought  proper.  When  the  treaties  were  laid 
before  the  Senate  in  February,  1852,  opposition  to 
ratification  at  once  sprang  up,  and  long  delay  en- 
sued. It  was  not  any  allegations  of  fraud  and 
deceit  which  formed  the  ground  of  this  opposition. 
It  came  from  Southern  senators  not  willing  to  ex- 
tend the  area  of  settlement  to  the  north,  on  which 
to  build  another  free  state.  It  was  not  till  June  23 
that  ratification  was  voted  by  a  slender  majority, 
and  that  not  till  after  amendments  were  made, 
which  opponents  believed  the  Sioux  would  never 
agree  to.  In  particular  the  senators  cut  out  the 
paragraphs  providing  for  the  two  reservations,  and 
substituted  a  provision  that  the  President  should 
select  new  homes  for  the  Minnesota  Sioux  outside 
the  ceded  territory. 

In  August  Governor  Ramsey  was  authorized  to 
obtain  the  consent  of  the  Indians  to  the  amend- 
ments. This  was  effected  through  persons  influ- 
ential among  them  and  without  calling  general 
councils  of  the  tribes.  The  consent  of  the  upper 


THE  TERRITORY  ORGANIZED  99 

Sioux,  however,  was  not  secured  till  after  the  exe- 
cution of  a  power  of  attorney  to  Governor  Ramsey, 
which  they  were  allowed  to  believe  "  broke "  all 
former  papers,  that  of  the  traders  in  particular. 
The  money  appropriated  for  the  immediate  pay- 
ments became  available  so  soon  as  the  Sioux  chiefs 
had  signed  their  ratifications,  and  Governor  Ram- 
sey was  designated  as  disbursing  agent  and  given 
a  credit  on  the  treasury  for  $593,000.  The  pay- 
ments did  not  begin  till  November,  and  then  with 
the  lower  Sioux.  The  Wah-pd-ku-te  chiefs  gave  no 
trouble,  but  signed  their  joint  receipt  for  $90,000 
of  "  hand  money,"  and  a  power  of  attorney  to  Mr. 
Sibley  to  receive  the  money  and  distribute  it  to 
their  licensed  traders.  The  seven  Medawakanton 
chiefs  would  not  sign  receipts  till  after  they  had 
been  encouraged  by  the  distribution  of  -120,000  in 
equal  sums,  deducted  from  the  amount  of  traders' 
claims.  Some  minor  enticements  contributed.  At 
"  The  Traverse,"  a  fortnight  later,  "  a  very  evil 
and  turbulent  spirit "  was  manifest.  The  chiefs 
demanded  the  money  "  for  settling  their  affairs  " 
to  be  paid  to  them.  They  would  then  decide  "  in 
open  council "  how  it  should  be  distributed.  Mr. 
Ramsey  was  firm,  and  held  them  to  the  terms  of 
the  traders'  paper,  which  he  considered  an  irrevo- 
cable contract.  The  local  Sissetons  were  so  riotous 
that  a  company  of  troops  had  to  be  summoned  from 
Fort  Snelling  to  keep  them  in  order.  After  much 
delay  and  no  little  effort  he  was  able  to  obtain 


100  MINNESOTA 

twelve  signatures  to  a  receipt  for  the  money  to  go 
to  traders,  but  only  two  of  the  names  were  those 
of  old  and  well-recognized  chiefs,  and  only  one  that 
of  a  signer  of  the  treaty  of  1851.  The  moneys  thus 
secured  to  the  traders,  and  some  moderate  gratifica- 
tions to  the  half-breeds,  were,  with  the  exception 
of  the  190,000  paid  the  Wah-pd-ku-tes,  delivered 
by  Governor  Ramsey  to  one  Hugh  Tyler,  a  citizen 
of  Pennsylvania  holding  powers  of  attorney.  This 
gentleman  distributed  according  to  the  schedules 
of  the  traders'  papers,  retaining  by  their  consent 
the  sum  of  $55,250,  about  thirteen  and  one  half 
per  cent.,  as  compensation  for  his  services  in  secur- 
ing the  ratification  of  the  treaties  and  for  other 
purposes. 

Political  enemies  of  Governor  Ramsey,  and  par- 
ties dissatisfied  with  the  distribution  of  moneys 
under  the  treaties,  laid  formal  charges  and  specifi- 
cations against  him  before  the  Senate  at  the  next 
session,  in  1853.  Upon  the  request  of  that  body 
the  President  undertook  an  investigation  and  ap- 
pointed two  Democratic  commissioners.  Their  re- 
port, covering,  with  testimony  and  exhibits,  431 
octavo  pages,  was  submitted  to  the  Senate  in  1854. 
It  was  on  the  whole  moderate  and  even  charitable 
in  tone,  but  conveyed  a  censure  for  allowing  the 
Indians  to  deceive  themselves,  for  not  paying 
strictly  in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the  trea- 
ties, for  use  of  oppressive  measures  in  securing 
the  receipts  of  the  chiefs,  and  for  allowing  Hugh 


THE  TERRITORY  ORGANIZED  101 

Tyler  a  percentage  not  "  necessary  for  any  reason- 
able or  legitimate  purpose."  The  testimony  dis- 
closed that  some  amount  of  this  money  had  been 
used  as  a  "  secret  service  fund  "  to  expedite  the 
business.  As  to  the  use  of  money  to  influence  offi- 
cials, the  principal  witness  for  the  defense  declared 
that  none  had  gone  or  would  go  into  the  hands  of 
Governor  Ramsey,  but  that  as  to  other  officers,  he 
declined  to  answer.  The  labored  argument  of  his 
lawyers  served  only  to  darken  counsel,  when  com- 
pared with  Governor  Ramsey's  clear  and  frank 
explanation,  filed  before  the  investigation  was 
begun. 

The  report  went  to  the  Senate  committee  on 
Indian  affairs,  a  Democratic  committee  of  a  Demo- 
cratic Senate.  On  February  24, 1854,  they  reported 
that  after  a  careful  examination  of  all  the  testimony 
the  conduct  of  Governor  Ramsey  was  not  only  free 
from  blame,  but  highly  commendable  and  meri- 
torious. Thereupon  the  committee  was  discharged 
from  further  consideration. 

The  gist  of  the  matter  is,  that  a  treaty  of  cession 
was  much  desired  by  the  people  of  the  territory, 
and  intensely  by  politicians  and  speculators.  It 
could  not  have  been  long  delayed.  No  treaty  could 
be  made  with  these  Indians  without  the  active  aid 
and  intervention  of  the  traders  and  half-breeds. 
Such  aid  could  be  had  only  by  paying  for  it.  The 
device  of  allowing  Indians  to  stipulate  in  treaties 
for  the  payment  to  traders  of  debts  due  them  from 


102  MINNESOTA 

individual  Indians,  as  if  they  were  tribal  obliga- 
tions, had  long  been  practiced.  But  for  the  machi- 
nations of  disgruntled  parties  desirous  of  being 
taken  into  the  happy  circle  of  beneficiaries,  the 
scheme  might  have  been  worked  as  quietly  and 
comfortably  as  usual.  An  old  interpreter  says  of 
these  treaties  that  "  they  were  fair  as  any  Indian 
treaties."  Having  undertaken  to  see  that  the  traders 
and  half-breeds  should  not  go  unrewarded  for  their 
indispensable  services,  Governor  Ramsey  stood  by 
them  to  the  end.  The  sums  paid  them  were  no 
robbery  of  the  Indians.  But  for  the  fact  that  the 
treaties  of  1851  were  the  beginning  of  troubles  to 
be  later  treated  of,  they  need  not  have  taken  so 
much  of  the  reader's  time. 

A  few  days  after  Governor  Ramsey  took  up  his 
residence  in  St.  Paul,  another  citizen  established 
himself  in  that  city  of  promise.  His  ambition  was 
not  confined  to  sharing  in  the  unearned  increment 
of  a  rapidly  growing  capital  city;  he  wished  also 
to  take  a  part  in  public  affairs.  Henry  M.  Rice, 
born  in  1816  in  Vermont,  emigrated  to  Michigan 
at  the  age  of  nineteen,  equipped  with  an  academy 
education  and  two  years  of  law  studies.  He  came  on 
to  Minnesota  in  1839,  and  was  employed  presently 
by  the  Chouteaus  of  St.  Louis,  who  took  over  the 
business  of  the  American  Fur  Company,  to  manage 
their  Winnebago  and  Chippeway  trade  from  Prairie 
du  Chien.  In  1847  he  became  a  partner  in  the 


THE  TERRITORY   ORGANIZED  103 

business  and  removed  to  Mendota,  a  place  much 
too  strait  for  two  such  men  as  himself  and  Mr. 
Sibley.  Established  in  St.  Paul,  Mr.  liice  threw 
himself  into  every  movement  and  enterprise  pro- 
jected for  the  development  of  the  town.  He 
generously  shared  his  gains  with  the  public.  His 
personal  qualities  were  such  that  he  could  not  help 
desiring  public  employment  and  obtaining  great 
success  in  it.  His  manners  were  so  gracious  and 
yet  not  patronizing,  that  he  made  friends  with  all 
sorts  and  conditions  of  men.  He  divined  with  an 
unerring  instinct  the  motives  of  men  and  parties, 
and  knew  when  and  how  by  appropriate  suggestion 
to  let  them  apparently  move  themselves  towards 
his  desired  ends.  An  early  example  of  Mr.  Rice's 
influence  and  success  may  be  found  in  a  contract 
which  he  obtained  in  1850  for  collecting  vajjrant 
Winnebagoes  and  returning  them  to  their  reserva- 
tions. The  Winnebagoes  were  a  powerful  Wiscon- 
sin tribe  when  the  white  man  came,  and  long  after. 
The  government  persuaded  them  to  vacate  first 
their  mineral  lands  and  later  all  their  lands  in 
Wisconsin,  and  move  to  the  so-called  "  neutral 
ground "  in  Iowa.  This  was  a  strip  of  territory 
some  twenty  miles  wide,  starting  from  the  north- 
east corner  of  Iowa  and  running  south  of  west  to 
the  Des  Moines  River.  The  generous  presents  and 
annuities  required  to  effect  the  sale  and  removal 
were  the  ruin  of  the  Winnebagoes.  They  became 
idle,   dissolute,    mischievous.    The   white   settlers 


104  MINNESOTA 

could  not  endure  them,  and  the  Indians  themselves 
tired  of  their  confinement  to  a  narrow  area.  Accord- 
ingly in  184G  a  treaty  was  effected  for  the  exchange 
of  the  neutral  ground  for  a  reservation  of  eight 
hundred  thousand  acres  in  Northern  Minnesota.  A 
tract  lying  between  the  Watab  and  Long  Prairie 
rivers,  west  of  the  Mississippi,  was  obtained  from 
the  Chippeways  for  this  purpose. 

In  the  summer  of  1848,  with  the  help  of  traders 
and  the  military,  the  Winnebagoes,  by  this  time  sick 
of  their  bargain,  were  put  on  the  road  for  their 
new  home.  Some  did  not  start,  others  fell  out  by 
the  way,  but  a  majority  of  the  twenty-five  hundred 
souls  were  landed  at  Long  Prairie.  They  liked  the 
new  home  even  less  than  they  expected,  and  soon 
began  to  desert  and  scatter ;  some  to  encamp  along 
the  upper  Mississippi,  some  to  the  neutral  ground, 
others  to  their  ancient  country  in  Wisconsin  ;  and 
a  few  are  said  to  have  wandered  off  to  the  Mis- 
souri. Wherever  they  went  they  were  unwelcome, 
and  the  Indian  office  was  flooded  with  complaints 
of  their  depredations  and  trespasses.  Mr.  Rice  had 
traded  with  the  Winnebagoes  and  had  so  attached 
them  to  himself  that  they  had  made  him  their  sole 
commissioner  to  choose  their  new  Minnesota  home. 
His  aid  had  been  called  in  to  persuade  them  to 
move.  To  him  now  the  Whig  commissioner  of  In- 
dian affairs  resorted  to  round  up  the  vagrant  In- 
dians and  corral  them  on  their  proper  reservation. 
He  agreed  to  pay  Mr.  Rice  seventy  dollars  per 


THE  TERRITORY  ORGANIZED  105 

head  for  the  service.  Meantime  Governor  Ramsey 
and  Agent  Fletcher  were  occupied  with  collecting 
the  Indians  below,  and  preparing  to  transport  or 
march  them  northward  without  material  expense 
to  the  government.  Delegate  Sibley  was  supposed 
to  be  the  proper  territorial  organ  at  the  seat  of 
government.  The  feelings  of  these  gentlemen  may 
be  imagined  when  they  learned  that  the  "  infamous 
Rice  contract,"  of  which  they  had  not  had  the  least 
knowledge  or  suspicion,  had  been  concluded,  and 
Mr.  Rice's  agents  were  on  the  road.  In  vain  did 
Governor  Ramsey  inform  the  commissioner  that  he 
had  several  hundred  ready  to  march;  in  vain  was 
Delegate  Sibley's  "  official  protest  "  against  a  secret, 
unconscionable,  insulting  proceeding.  A  House 
committee  of  investigation  exonerated  the  commis- 
sioner, but  he  took  early  occasion  to  resign  his 
office.  The  point  of  interest  to  the  Minnesota  cit- 
izen was  not  the  alleged  excessive  cost  to  the  gov- 
ernment, or  the  comfort  of  the  Winnebagoes.  He 
was  concerned  to  know  who  had  the  greatest  pull  at 
Washington,  and  it  appeared  to  him  at  the  close  that 
a  certain  private  citizen  of  St,  Paul,  a  Democrat, 
and  not  the  Whio;  ofovernor  nor  the  Democratic 
delegate,  was  the  man  to  "  swing  things  "  there. 

In  the  fall  of  the  same  year  (1850)  came  the 
regular  election  for  delegate  to  succeed  Mr.  Sibley 
upon  the  expiration  of  his  term.  Mr.  Rice,  who 
had  contested  Mr.  Sibley's  election  in  1848  as  dele- 
gate from  Wisconsin,  —  with  little  vigor,  however. 


lOG  MINNESOTA 

—  was  too  prudent  to  come  out  against  one  who 
had  brought  home  the  organic  act,  and  made  no 
oi)position  to  Mr.  Sibley's  unanimous  election  as 
delegate  to  the  Thirty-first  Congress,  although  he 
organized  the  democracy  of  the  territory  as  if  for 
a  candidacy.  Nor  did  he  personally  aspire  to  the 
office  when  Mr.  Sibley's  first  term  was  to  expire. 
To  defeat  that  gentleman  he  virtually  dictated  the 
Whig  nominee,  who  had  been  useful  in  securing 
the  Winnebago  contract,  and  persuaded  the  regular 
Democratic  nominee  to  retire  on  the  eve  of  election 
in  favor  of  the  Whig  candidate. 

Mr.  Sibley,  although  a  Jeffersonian  Democrat 
dyed  in  the  wool,  ran  as  a  people's  candidate.  The 
total  vote  was  1208 ;  a  transfer  of  46  votes  would 
have  elected  the  Whig  candidate.  The  account  of 
historians,  surviving  citizens,  and  the  newspapers 
of  the  day  concur  in  pronouncing  this  political  cam- 
paign the  bitterest  and  most  intensely  personal 
ever  known  in  Minnesota.  Mr.  Sibley's  opponents 
attacked  him  as  the  representative  and  tool  of  the 
American  Fur  Company,  an  ancient,  shameless,  in- 
tolerable monopoly.  Party  lines  broke  down,  and 
the  issue  became  "  Fur  versus  Anti-Fur." 

Mr.  Sibley  served  through  the  Thirty -first  and 
Thirty-second  Congresses  with  admirable  efficiency. 
At  one  time  objection  was  made  against  his  active 
participation  in  general  legislation,  and  the  sug- 
gestion made  that  a  delegate  should  confine  him- 
self to  matters  concerning  his  territory.   Mr.  Sibley 


THE  TERRITORY  ORGANIZED  107 

replied  that  Minnesota  was  part  of  the  United 
States,  and  that  whatever  concerned  them  concerned 
her,  and  claimed  for  her  delegate  the  right  to  be 
heard,  and  all  the  more  because  he  had  no  vote. 
The  matter  was  dropped.  lie  had  little  difficulty 
in  obtaining  for  Minnesota  the  needful  appropria- 
tions for  her  government  expenses,  roads,  and  pub- 
lic buildings,  and  the  reservation  in  1851  of  two 
sections  in  each  township  for  common  schools,  and 
of  two  townships  of  land  for  the  endowment  of  a 
university.  His  most  conspicuous  act,  in  the  highest 
degree  creditable  to  him,  although  barren  of  results, 
was  his  effort  to  secure  the  passage  of  his  bill  to 
extend  the  laws  of  the  land  over  the  Indians.  His 
speech  of  August  2,  1850,  in  which  he  denounced 
the  rascality  of  the  white  man's  dealings  with  the 
natives,  the  absurdity  of  treating  with  them  as 
separate  nations,  and  their  need  of  the  protection 
of  the  law,  is  a  splendid  testimony  to  the  intelli- 
gence and  wisdom  of  the  man  who  doubtless  knew 
more  about  Indian  affairs  than  any  other  man  on 
the  floor.  He  spoke  to  deaf  ears.  The  government 
went  on  sowing  to  the  wind,  to  reap  the  whirlwind. 
Mr.  Sibley  was  permitted  to  return  to  private 
life  at  the  close  of  his  second  term  and  devote  him- 
self to  closing  up  his  relations  with  the  American 
Fur  Company,  of  which  he  had  remained  the  head. 
Mr.  Rice  was  selected  to  succeed  him  by  a  three 
fourths  majority  vote  over  Alexander  Wilkin,  his 
Whig  opponent. 


CHAPTER  VII 

TERRITORIAL   DEVELOPMENT 

The  triumph  of  the  Democratic  party  in  the  elec- 
tions of  1852  was  notice  to  all  the  appointive  ter- 
ritorial officers  of  Minnesota  that  their  days  were 
numbered.  On  May  15,  1853,  Governor  Ramsey 
gave  place  to  the  Hon.  Willis  A.  Gorman,  and  the 
Whig  judges  were  succeeded  by  Messrs.  William 
H.  Welch,  Andrew  G.  Chatfield,  and  Moses  G. 
Sherburne. 

The  appointment  of  governor  was  a  disappoint- 
ment to  the  friends  of  Mr.  Sibley,  who  felt  that  he 
had  good  right  to  aspire  to  the  office.  His  connec- 
tion with  the  now  discredited  fur  company,  and  his 
failure  to  ally  himself  with  the  Democratic  machine 
in  Minnesota,  left  the  President  free  to  bestow  the 
appointment  on  some  one  who  had  done  loyal  ser- 
vice in  the  late  campaign.  In  this  regard  few  were 
more  deserving  than  Colonel  Gorman  of  Indiana. 
Born  in  1816,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  the 
age  of  twenty,  and  three  years  later  became  a 
member  of  the  legislature.  At  the  outbreak  of  the 
Mexican  War  he  raised  and  commanded  a  battalion 
of  riflemen  and  later  a  regiment  of  infantry.  After 
that  war  he  served  two  years  in  Congress,  and  de- 


TERRITORIAL   DEVELOPMENT  109 

served  well  of  his  party.  His  power  upon  the  stump 
was  enhanced  by  a  graceful  personality  and  a  voice 
of  great  melody  and  strength.  The  affairs  of  the 
territory  had  already  been  organized  and  had  fallen 
into  an  orderly  routine,  so  that  Governor  Gorman's 
administration  of  four  years  was  not  marked  by 
notable  executive  acts.  His  messages  abound  in 
eloquent  passages,  generally  commendatory  of 
worthy  enterprises  and  objects.  The  exigencies  of 
politics  and  business  presently  put  him  and  Mr. 
Sibley  into  the  same  bed,  and  affiliated  Mr.  Ram- 
sey to  some  degree  with  Mr.  Rice. 

Legislative  action  was  devoted  mainly  to  pro- 
visions for  the  needs  of  a  rapidly  swelling  popula- 
tion and  expanding  settlements.  New  counties  were 
organized  from  year  to  year,  and  towns,  cities,  and 
villages  were  incorporated  in  astonishing  numbers. 
College  and  university  charters  were  distributed 
with  liberal  hand  to  aspiring  municipalities.  The 
disposition  of  the  government  appropriation  for 
territorial  roads  occupied  much  time  of  the  houses. 
The  commissioners  and  surveyors  employed  in 
laying  out  the  roads,  and  the  contractors  who  un- 
dertook the  construction,  saw  to  it  that  no  idle 
surpluses  were  left  over.  Plank-road  charters  were 
numerous,  but  none  were  ever  built.  Railroad  in- 
corporations occupy  great  space  in  the  journals 
and  statutes,  perhaps  because  they  had  been  ex- 
cepted out  of  the  general  law  of  1851  for  the  crea- 


110  MINNESOTA 

tion  of  corporations.  Ferry  privileges  were  much 
sought  for. 

The  same  conditions  governed  the  activity  of 
Mr.  Rice,  who  took  his  seat  as  delegate  in  Congress 
in  December,  1853.  Industrious,  persuasive,  and 
soon  influential,  he  promoted  in  many  ways  the 
intei'ests  of  the  territory  and  his  constituents,  and 
by  so  doing  obtained  a  popularity  hardly  equaled 
in  Minnesota  history.  He  was  diligent  in  laboring 
for  the  extension  of  the  land  surveys  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  land  offices.  He  secured  the  opening 
of  post-offices  in  the  new  villages.  His  influence 
contributed  to  the  extension  of  the  preemption 
system  to  unsurveyed  lands,  a  change  which  vir- 
tually opened  all  lands  not  Indian  to  settlement. 
Mr.  Rice's  own  personal  qualities  were  such  as  to 
give  him  wide  acquaintance  and  influence,  and 
these  were  extended  in  no  small  degree  by  those 
of  the  charming  Virginian  lady  whom  he  had  taken 
to  wife.  Standing  for  reelection  in  the  fall  of  1855, 
he  won  by  a  handsome  plurality  over  his  Republi- 
can opponent,  William  R.  Marshall,  and  another 
Democratic  candidate,  David  Olmstead,  supported 
by  the  friends  of  Mr.  Sibley. 

As  the  administration  of  Mr.  Ramsey  had  been 
signalized  by  the  opening  of  many  millions  of  acres 
of  Indian  lands  to  white  men's  occupation  in  south- 
ern Minnesota,  so  in  Governor  Gorman's  day  great 
areas  were  opened  in  the  Chippeway  country  of 
northern  Minnesota.  It  is  probable  that  ]\Ir.  Rice, 


TERRITORIAL  DEVELOPMENT  111 

more  familiar  with  the  Chippeways  than  any  other 
public  man,  was  most  influential  of  all  in  procuring 
the  cessions. 

The  earliest  explorers  to  the  shores  of  Lake  Su- 
perior had  brought  away  specimens  of  native  copper 
and  Indian  reports  of  hidden  metallic  treasure.  In 
1826  Governor  Lewis  Cass  obtained,  by  a  treaty 
made  at  Fond  du  Lac  with  the  Chippeways,  the 
right  of  the  whites  to  search  for  metals  and  min- 
erals in  any  part  of  their  vast  country.  Although 
no  mining  development  took  place,  the  belief  per- 
sisted that  there  was  great  metallic  wealth  in  the 
upper  lake  region.  The  first  cession  in  the  north- 
west was  that  of  the  Chippeways  of  Lake  Superior 
in  September,  1854,  of  the  "triangle  "  north  of  the 
lake,  extending  westward  to  the  line  of  the  St. 
Louis  and  Vermilion  rivers,  embracing  nearly  three 
million  acres.  This  great  cession  was  followed  by 
another  still  greater,  early  in  1855.  Nearly  four 
hundred  townships  in  the  north  central  part  of  the 
state  were  freed  from  Indian  incumbrance.  The 
two  cessions  cover  nearly  one  half  of  the  area  of 
the  state.  It  was  the  lumber  interest  which  desired 
the  acquisition  of  1855.  On  the  area  liberated 
stood  large  bodies  of  the  finest  pine  forests  of 
America.  The  current  belief  was  tliat  they  could 
never  be  exhausted.  Of  Chippeway  country  there 
remained  a  trapezoidal  block  in  the  extreme  north- 
west corner  of  the  state,  which  was  acquired  by 
treaty  in  18G3. 


112  MINNESOTA 

In  1851,  immediately  after  the  conclusion  of  the 
Sioux  treaties  of  Traverse  des  Sioux  and  Mendota, 
Governor  Ramsey  made  the  long  journey  from  St. 
Paul  to  Pembina,  and  there  made  a  treaty  with 
the  local  Chippeways  for  the  cession  of  a  great 
tract.  This  treaty  went  in  with  the  Sioux  treaties 
for  confirmation  and  had  to  be  "  sacrificed "  to 
secure  favorable  action  by  the  Senate  on  them. 
What  "  interest "  desired  the  extinction  of  Indian 
titles  upon  such  a  remote  and  disconnected  area 
is  not  well  known.  Mr.  Norman  W.  Kittson  had 
operated  there  since  1843,  for  the  American  Fur 
Company.  The  ratified  treaties  mentioned  left  the 
Chippeways,  some  ten  thousand  in  number,  concen- 
trated on  reservations  of  moderate  extent  set  apart 
in  the  ceded  territory.  These  they  still  occupy,  gen- 
erally in  peace,  depending  largely  on  their  annui- 
ties for  subsistence.  Their  progress  in  civilization 
and  Christianity  has  been  sufficient  to  keep  the 
missionaries  and  teachers  from  giving  up  in  despair. 
No  body  of  ecclesiastics  ever  had  a  more  complete 
rule  over  a  people  than  the  medicine-men  of  the 
Chippeway  Indians. 

An  incident  of  the  Chippeway  treaty  of  1854 
must  here  have  mention,  at  the  risk  of  tedium.  As 
was  usual,  the  half-breeds  had  to  be  conciliated 
by  a  benefaction  to  prevent  them  from  dissuading 
the  Indians.  It  was  given  them  in  the  shape  of 
an  eighty-acre  tract  in  fee  simple  to  each  head  of 


TERRITORIAL  DEVELOPMENT  113 

a  family  or  single  person  over  twenty-one  years 
of  aere,  of  the  mixed  bloods.  This  distribution  was 
made  and  all  beneficiaries,  three  hundred  and 
twelve  in  number,  were  satisfied,  within  two  years. 
Ten  years  after  the  negotiation  of  the  treaty  an 
accommodating  commissioner  of  Indian  affairs, 
upon  application  through  Delegate  Rice,  issued  two 
certificates  for  eighty-acre  tracts  to  two  members 
of  a  prominent  Minnesota  family,  mixed  bloods  of 
the  Chippeways  of  Lake  Superior,  who  had  never 
lived  with  those  Indians.  He  also  ruled  that  the 
grant  extended  to  Chippeway  mixed  bloods  of  any 
tribe  wherever  resident.  To  prevent  the  oversight 
of  any  worthy  beneficiaries  under  these  rulings,  in- 
dustrious gentlemen  at  once  employed  themselves 
iu  searching  them  out  and  revealing  their  unsus- 
pected good  fortune.  "Factories  "  were  established 
at  La  Pointe,  Wisconsin,  Washington,  D.  C,  St. 
Paul,  and  in  the  Red  River  country,  and  nearly 
twelve  hundred  were  discovered.  Later  examina- 
tions of  the  lists  showed  that  in  some  cases  both 
man  and  wife  had  been  reckoned  as  heads  of  fami- 
lies ;  and  that  the  names  of  some  minors,  of  some 
Chippeway  families  with  too  little  white  blood  to 
fairly  count  as  "  breeds,"  and  of  a  few  deceased 
persons  had  been  enrolled.  The  motive  for  this 
extraordinary  diligence  lay  in  the  fact  that  the 
certificates  or  '*  scrip  "  could  be  used  for  the  loca- 
tion of  pine  on  unsurveyed  lands,  giving  the  holder 
the  opportunity  of  ranging  the  woods  and  select- 


114  MINNESOTA 

ing  the  most  valuable.  These  certificates  the  half- 
breeds  were  commonly  willing  to  alienate  for  a 
small  consideration.  That  they  were  on  their  face 
absolutely  unassignable,  and  so  good  only  in  the 
hands  of  the  beneficiary  himself,  was  no  serious  ob- 
stacle to  the  ingenious  operators.  Two  powers  of  at- 
torney, one  to  locate,  the  other  to  sell,  served  as  a 
virtual  conveyance  to  the  speculating  lumberman. 
James  Harlan,  Secretary  of  the  Interior  in  Lin- 
coln's second  administration,  put  a  stop  to  this 
pretty  game.  But  his  successor,  O.  H.  Browning, 
yielded  to  the  persuasions  of  interested  parties, 
and  on  Jiily  11,  1868,  reopened  the  doors  to  them. 
Within  a  few  weeks  a  prominent  citizen  filed  315 
applications  and  received  310  pieces  of  scrip.  An 
investigating  committee  expressed  the  opinion  that 
"  probably  not  one  of  these  was  valid."  They  were 
good  for  24,800  acres  of  pine.  The  liberal  secretary 
ruled  that  they  might  be  located  on  any  lands  ceded 
by  the  Chippeways  by  any  treaty,  and  need  not  be 
selected  on  those  ceded  at  La  Pointe  in  1854.  Appli- 
cations continued  to  come  in.  In  the  following  year, 
1869,  Colonel  Ely  F.  Parker,  by  birth  a  Seneca 
Indian,  was  made  commissioner  of  Indian  affairs. 
Taking  up  the  applications,  he  rejected  them  all 
and  gave  notice  that  no  more  scrip  would  issue 
under  the  treaty  of  1854.  Holders  of  certificates 
obtained  in  the  manner  described  were  discouraged, 
but  not  cast  down.  They  prevailed  on  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior  in  1870  to  appoint  a  gentleman  of 


TERRITORIAL   DEVELOPMENT  115 

Minnesota  a  special  agent  to  examine  claims.  Re- 
porting progress  in  March,  1871,  that  agent  had 
found  135  persons  entitled  to  scrip. 

Columbus  Delano  was  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
in  the  year  last  mentioned.  Assured  that  the  sub- 
ject of  Chippeway  half-breed  scrip  would  bear  scru- 
tinizing, he  appointed  the  Neal  commission.  The 
report  of  that  commission  brought  the  facts  above 
related  to  the  surface.  Of  the  135  claims  reported 
valid  by  the  late  special  agent  they  found  two  legit- 
imate. They  approved  eleven  out  of  495  others 
presented.  The  commission  also  examined  116  "per- 
sonal applications,"  filed  in  the  St.  Cloud  land  office, 
and  these  without  exception  were  fraudulent.  That 
number  of  persons,  belonging  to  a  Red  River  train 
bivouacked  at  St.  Cloud,  had  been  taken  into  the 
land  office  and  steered  through  the  motions  of  ap- 
plying for  scrip.  For  this  accommodating  service 
they  were  paid  from  fifteen  to  forty  dollars  apiece. 
The  commission  recommended  that  no  more  Chip- 
peway half-breed  scrip  under  the  treaty  of  1854 
should  be  issued,  unless  by  order  of  Congress,  and 
that  the  persons  who  had  been  guilty  of  suborna- 
tion of  perjury,  forgery,  and  embezzlement  should 
be  prosecuted. 

Tiiis  did  not  conclude  the  long  drawn  out  matter. 
Pieces  of  scrip  accompanied  with  powers  of  attorney 
in  blank  had  been  freely  bought  and  sold  for  use  in 
locating  pine.  These  vouchers  fell  into  the  hands 
of  bankers,  and   represented  considerable  invest- 


116  MINNESOTA 

ments.  It  seemed  a  hardship  that  these  holders 
should  suffer  loss.  On  June  8,  1872,  Congress 
passed  a  bill  with  the  innocent  title  "  An  act  to 
quiet  certain  land  titles."  It  provided  that  "  inno- 
cent parties  "  holding  Chippeway  half-breed  scrip 
in  good  faith,  for  value,  might  purchase  the  corre- 
sponding lands  at  a  price  to  be  fixed  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior,  not  less  than  one  dollar  and  a 
quarter  an  acre. 

The  Jones  commission,  appointed  to  ascertain 
the  innocent  holders,  reported  thirteen  individuals 
and  firms  entitled  to  the  benefits  of  the  act,  and 
approved  216  entries  conveying  17,280  acres  of  the 
best  pine  in  Minnesota,  worth  eight  to  ten  dollars 
an  acre.  As  to  the  price  to  be  paid,  the  commis- 
sioners advised  the  department  that  it  would  be 
useless  to  ask  more  than  two  dollars  and  a  half  an 
acre,  for  if  put  up  at  auction,  combinations  of  bid- 
ders would  hold  bids  to  that  figure.  The  commis- 
sion vindicated  the  claimants  from  any  participation 
in  the  original  frauds,  but  found  that  they  had  been 
much  too  careless  in  their  investments,  and  so  had 
become  victims  of  persons  who  had  "got  up  a 
scheme  with  wonderful  prudence  and  caution." 
These  victims,  thus  resorting  to  Congress  for  relief, 
were  the  sharpest  pine  land  operators  ever  known 
in  IMinnesota. 

This  recital  may  teach  how  and  why  liberal  grati- 
fications were  always  desired  for  mixed  bloods,  when 
Indian  treaties  were  negotiated. 


TERRITORIAL   DEVELOPMENT  117 

A  contemporaneous  operation,  similar  in  its  re- 
sults, took  place  with  the  half-breeds  of  the  Sioux 
nation.  Account  has  already  been  made  of  a  gift 
of  land  which  the  Sioux  were  permitted  to  bestow 
on  their  half-breeds  in  the  treaty  at  Prairie  du 
Chien  in  1830.  The  tract  designated,  roughly  rec- 
tangular, long  known  as  the  "  Wabashaw  reserva- 
tion," lay  on  the  Mississippi,  running  down  river 
from  Red  Wing  thirty-two  miles,  and  back  into  the 
country  fifteen  miles.  The  treaty  provided  that  the 
President  might  in  his  discretion  grant  title  to  par- 
cels of  one  section  in  fee  simple  to  individual  breeds ; 
and  it  was  the  expectation  of  the  able  men  who 
were  working  the  scheme  that  they  would  soon  be 
in  possession  of  extensive  properties  at  slight  outlay. 
Agent  Taliaferro,  the  incorruptible  Sioux  agent, 
revealed  the  plan  in  so  forceful  a  way  that  neither 
President  Jackson  nor  any  successor  would  grant 
title  to  individuals.  Failure  to  get  possession  of  land 
was  followed  by  efforts  to  get  money.  The  half- 
breeds  had  no  desire  to  settle  on  the  reservation.  In 
1841  the  unratified  "  Doty  treaty"  with  the  Sioux 
included  a  sum  of  S200,000  to  be  paid  the  breeds 
for  the  reservation,  which  they  were  to  surrender. 
Again  in  1849,  when  Commissioners  Ramsey  and 
Chambers  attempted  to  obtain  a  treaty  of  cession 
of  the  Sioux,  they  only  succeeded  in  securing  an 
agreement  of  the  half-breeds  to  accept  some  such 
sum.  The  Senate  refused  to  ratify.  A  similar  arti- 
cle was  injected  into  the  treaties  of  1851,  and  this 


118  MINNESOTA 

was  rejected  by  the  Senate,  to  the  disappointment 
of  patient  waiters. 

The  matter  awaited  the  intervention  of  Delegate 
Rice,  whose  knowledge  and  skill  in  Indian  affairs 
had  obtained  him  influence  in  Congress.  On  July 
17,  1854,  a  bill  which  had  been  introduced  by  him, 
providing  for  the  survey  of  the  Wabashaw  reserva- 
tion in  Minnesota,  "  and  for  other  purposes,"  was 
approved.  The  "  other  purpose  "  was  to  give  the 
President  authority  to  issue  certificates  or  scrip 
to  individual  Sioux  half-breeds,  under  a  jiro  rata 
division  of  the  tract.  These  certificates  might  be 
located  on  any  lands  of  the  United  States,  not 
reserved,  unsurveyed  lands  included.  In  express 
terms  the  law  forbade  the  transfer  or  conveyance 
of  the  scrip.  The  tract  was  surveyed,  and  in  the 
course  of  two  years  640  individual  breeds  were 
assigned  480  acres  each.  Later  37  persons  obtained 
each  360  acres ;  in  all  320,880  acres  were  disposed 
of.  Very  few  of  the  beneficiaries  settled  on  the 
reservation.  In  many  cases  the  scrip  went  to  ])ay 
traders'  debts,  and  in  many  others  the  beneficiaries 
got  "  dogs  and  cats "  for  it.  White  men  who  had 
taken  half-breed  wives  profited  most.  The  size  of 
some  families  is  remarkable. 

The  provision  of  law  that  no  scrip  could  be 
transferred  was  evaded  by  the  same  means  as  those 
employed  in  handling  Chippeway  half-breed  scrip. 
Two  powers  of  attorney  with  the  necessary  affi- 
davits worked  a  transfer,  which  the  courts  sus- 


TERRITORIAL   DEVELOPMENT  119 

tained.  Sioux  half-breed  scrip  which  could  be 
located  on  unsurveyed  lands  was  soon  in  request, 
and  served  the  purposes  of  the  well-informed.  A 
batch  of  it  went  to  California  to  be  located  on 
forest  and  mineral  lands.  A  moiety  was  used  for 
the  acquisition  of  town  sites  in  Minnesota  in  ad- 
vance of  surveys.  Another  use  involving  some 
elasticity  of  conscience  was  the  acquisition  of  pine 
timber  without  the  inconvenience  of  taking  the 
lands  with  it.  A  plan  of  "  floating "  scrip  was 
worked  out  and  prosecuted  so  habitually  by  men 
of  good  report  that  no  dishonor  attached  to  it. 
The  holder  of  scrip  under  power  of  attorney  would 
locate  a  piece,  cut  off  the  pine,  and  then  discover 
that  he  had  not  dealt  wisely  for  his  half-breed 
principal.  He  would  then  obtain  a  cancellation  of 
his  location,  place  his  scrip  on  another  piece,  and 
repeat  the  process  until  the  surveys  were  made.  As 
late  as  1872  the  commissioner  of  public  lands  issued 
a  circular  condemning  this  practice  in  vigorous 
terms. 

Soon  after  the  unexampled  development  of  the 
iron  mines  in  the  "  triangle  "  in  the  middle  of  the 
eighties,  Sioux  half-breed  scrip  was  used  to  obtain 
title  to  lands  still  unsurveyed  in  that  region,  likely 
to  be  found  iron-bearing.  Mr.  Vilas,  Secretary  of 
the  Interior,  and  his  successor  decided,  in  cases 
referred  to  them,  that  this  scrip  could  not  pass 
title,  the  powers  of  attorney  being  but  a  means  to 
evade  the  law  declaring  the  scrip  to  be  non-trans- 


120  MINNESOTA 

ferable.  A  long  series  of  litigations  followed,  con- 
cluded by  the  Supreme  Court  decision  of  1902 
(183  U.  S.  619),  holding  those  powers  of  attorney 
to  work  a  valid  conveyance.  The  title  to  many  mil- 
lions worth  of  mining  property  was  thus  quieted. 

It  may  here  be  noted  that  in  1855  the  Wiune- 
bajjoes,  discontented  with  their  homes  in  the  Lon^ 
Prairie  reservation,  were  glad  to  exchange  it  for 
one  of  eighteen  miles  square,  south  and  east  of 
Mankato,  whither  they  removed  in  the  same  year. 
The  new  reservation  being  less  than  one  fourth  the 
area  of  the  old,  a  large  addition  was  made  to  white 
man's  country. 

Of  all  the  developments  in  the  time  of  Governor 
Gorman  none  equaled  in  importance  the  phenom- 
enal increase  of  popidation.  The  census  of  1850 
showed  a  total  of  6077  souls  in  the  nine  counties 
of  the  territory,  4577  of  them  in  three  counties. 
Pending  the  negotiation,  amendment,  and  ratifica- 
tion of  the  Sioux  treaties  of  1851  the  accessions 
were  small. 

It  was  late  in  the  season  of  1853  when  the  bands 
of  the  upper  and  lower  Sioux  were  established  on 
their  reservations  on  the  upper  Minnesota.  Some 
adventurous  prospectors  had  not  waited  for  them 
to  abandon  their  villages  on  the  IMississippi,  but 
had  staked  out  claims  in  their  corn  and  bean 
patches.  There  may  have  been  10,000  whites  when 
the  Indians  had  departed. 


TERRITORIAL  DEVELOPMENT  121 

In  the  early  summer  of  1854  the  Rock  Island 
and  Pacific  Railroad  was  built  through  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi. The  event  was  celebrated  by  a  grand  ex- 
cursion from  Chicago  to  St.  Paul  and  Fort  Snelling. 
Five  steamers  carried  the  party  from  Rock  Island 
up  the  river.  Among  the  guests  were  statesmen, 
divines,  college  professors,  and  eminent  men  of 
affairs.  At  the  reception  in  St.  Paul  addresses 
were  made  by  ex-President  Fillmore  and  George 
Bancroft  the  historian.  This  excursion,  widely  her- 
alded, gave  notice  that  Minnesota  was  in  steam 
communication  for  half  the  year.  That  year  saw 
the  arrival  of  the  advance  guard  of  the  host  to 
follow.  The  season  of  1855  saw  50,000  people  in 
the  territory ;  that  number  was  doubled  in  1856. 
The  sales  of  public  lands,  which  in  1854  had 
been  but  314,715  acres,  rose  to  1,132,672  in  the 
next  year,  and  to  2,334,000  in  1856.  These  figures 
indicate  that  the  people  came  to  stay  and  cultivate 
the  soil.  The  Middle  States  sent  the  largest  contin- 
gent, next  the  Northwestern  States,  and  then  New 
England.  The  prairie  lands,  if  broken  early,  would 
yield  a  crop  of  sod  corn  the  same  year,  and  in  any 
case  returned  a  bounteous  harvest  in  the  second  year. 

In  a  time  incredibly  short  these  pioneers,  rudely 
housed  and  their  animals  sheltered,  were  surrounded 
by  all  solid  comforts.  They  lost  no  time  in  starting 
their  schools,  churches,  and  other  associations. 
Minnesota  was  hardly  ever  missionary  ground  for 
white  people. 


122  MINNESOTA 

The  establishment  of  steam  communication  for  the 
summer  season  made  the  "  territorians  "  of  Minne- 
sota feel  the  more  keenly  the  isolation  in  the  long 
winters.  Governor  Gorman  in  his  first  message 
(January  11,  1854)  said:  "To  get  out  from  here 
during  the  winter  ...  is  far  above  and  beyond 
any  other  consideration  to  the  people  of  Minnesota. 
To  accomplish  this  you  must  concentrate  all  the 
energies  of  the  people  on  one  or  two  roads,  and  NO 
MORE  for  the  present.  I  have  but  little  doubt  that 
Congress  will  grant  us  land  sufficient  to  unlock  our 
ice-bound  home,  if  we  confine  our  request  to  one 
point."  This  wise  counsel  had  its  effect  on  the  legis- 
lature. On  February  20  Joseph  R.  Brown  intro- 
duced into  the  council  a  bill  to  incorporate  the 
"  Minnesota  and  Northwestern  Railroad  Company," 
which  was  presently  passed  by  that  body,  but  by 
no  large  majority.  In  the  house  lively  opposition 
sprung  up,  and  dilatory  proceedings  delayed  pas- 
sage till  the  last  night  of  the  session  (March  3). 
Governor  Gorman  gave  it  a  reluctant  approval  be- 
cause he  had  been  allowed  but  sixty-five  minutes 
before  the  expiration  of  the  session  to  examine  its 
provisions.  It  is  quite  remarkable  that  a  bill  of 
such  importance,  the  talk  of  the  town,  had  escaped 
his  notice.  The  act  authorized  the  chartered  com- 
pany to  build  and  operate  a  railroad  from  the  head 
of  Lake  Superior  via  St.  Paul  to  Dubuque,  Iowa, 
within  a  specified  term  of  years.  The  franchise  was 
to  be  void  unless  the  first  board  of  directors  should 


TERRITORIAL  DEVELOPMENT  123 

be  organized  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  July  fol- 
lowing. 

The  real  ground  of  opposition  in  the  legislature, 
and  of  Governor  Gorman's  reluctance,  lay  in  a 
provision,  "that  any  lands  granted  to  the  said  ter- 
ritory to  aid  in  the  construction  of  said  railroad 
shall  be  and  the  same  are  hereby  granted  in  fee 
simple,  absolute,  without  further  act  or  deed,"  to 
said  company.  There  was  ambiguity  in  the  para- 
graph relating  to  the  northern  terminus,  leaving  it 
in  doubt  whether  that  might  not  be  located  outside 
of  Minnesota.  It  was  suspected  that  the  intention 
was  to  place  it  at  Bayfield,  Wisconsin,  where  influ- 
ential persons  had  made  purchases  of  real  estate.  It 
remained  to  secure  from  Congress  the  much  needed 
and  hoped  for  land  grant.  A  bill  to  grant  even 
number  sections  of  public  lands  for  six  sections  in 
width  on  both  sides  of  the  proposed  railroad  line, 
so  drawn  as  to  allow  the  grant  to  pass  to  the  com- 
pany chartered  by  the  Minnesota  territorial  legis- 
lature, was  introduced  in  the  House  on  March  7. 
The  Secretary  of  War,  Jefferson  Davis,  warmly 
recommended  its  passage  because  of  the  service  the 
road  would  render  in  transporting  troops,  muni- 
tions of  war,  and  mail. 

The  proposition  to  grant  a  million  acres  and 
more  to  so  remote  and  thinly  settled  a  territory  at 
once  aroused  inquiry  and  opposition.  The  policy  of 
granting  public  lands  for  building  railroads  was 
still  novel ;  there  were  but  three  precedents,  that 


124  MINNESOTA 

of  the  Illinois  Central  grant  of  1850  being  the  old- 
est. The  measure,  however,  had  its  friends,  and 
the  opponents  were  driven  to  the  device  of  killing 
the  bill  by  amendments.  And  they  succeeded. 
Presently  came  a  revulsion.  Members  from  the 
South  and  West  regretted  that  the  railroad  land 
grant  policy  had  received  so  rude  a  backset.  There 
was  no  little  sympathy  for  Minnesota,  struggling 
for  an  open  road  and  a  market.  Another  effort 
was  resolved  upon.  Mr.  Sibley,  then  in  Washing- 
ton, drew  a  new  bill  identical  in  the  main  with  that 
which  had  been  put  to  sleep,  but  so  changed  as  to 
vest  the  grant  in  the  territory  and  leave  its  dispo- 
sition to  the  next  or  a  later  legislature.  This  bill 
was  passed  and  approved  on  June  29. 

The  incorporators  named  in  the  Minnesota  act 
creatine:  the  Minnesota  and  Northwestern  Railroad 
Company  met  in  New  York  on  July  1,  on  one 
day's  notice,  and  "organized"  by  the  election  of  a 
board  of  directors.  The  bpard  immediately  elected 
the  necessary  officers  and  took  the  proper  resolu- 
tions for  beginning  their  enterprise.  On  the  24th 
of  July  it  was  charged  on  the  floor  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  at  Washington  that  the  "  Minne- 
sota bill "  had  been  mutilated  after  its  passage  by 
the  House,  so  that  the  Senate  had  really  passed  a 
differing  bill.  The  effect  of  the  change  (simply  the 
word  "and"  written  over  an  erasure  of  the  word 
"or")  had  the  effect  to  vest  the  lands  granted  in 
the  Minnesota  corporation ;  just  what  Congress  had 


TERRITORIAL  DEVELOPMENT  125 

intended  not  to  do.  An  abortive  investigation  fol- 
lowed, and  the  mutilated  bill  was  repealed  by  a 
section  added  to  a  private  bill  to  increase  a  certain 
pension,  pending  in  the  Senate,  and  awaiting  third 
reading.  This  action  was  of  course  disappointing  to 
the  railroad  company  and  those  friendly  to  it.  Dele- 
gate Rice  was  of  opinion  that  the  alteration  of  "  or" 
to  "  and  "  was  purely  verbal  and  immaterial,  and 
eminent  attorneys  advised  the  company  that  a 
grant  having  been  made  for  sufficient  consider- 
ations, it  had  become  an  irrevocable  contract.  The 
pretended  repeal,  therefore,  was  void.  To  test  this 
question  a  case  entitled  The  United  States  vs.  The 
Minnesota  and  Northwestern  Railroad  Company 
was  brought  before  the  district  court  of  Goodhue 
County,  asking  the  award  of  damages  for  certain 
oak  trees  felled  on  land  belonging  to  the  govern- 
ment. The  defense  contended  that  no  damages  were 
done,  because  it  had  cut  the  trees  on  land  granted 
by  Congress  by  the  act  of  June  24,  1854.  The 
issue  was,  of  course,  the  constitutionality  of  the 
repealing  act.  The  court  held  the  act  void,  and  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  territory  sustained  that  judg- 
ment before  the  end  of  the  year.  This  was  very 
encouraging  to  the  company,  but  their  joy  was  pre- 
sently changed  to  sorrow.  When  the  Attorney- 
General  of  the  United  States  learned  from  the 
newspapers  of  this  litigation,  and  of  a  suit  brought 
in  behalf  of  the  United  States  without  his  know- 
ledge or  authority,  he  removed  the  accommodating 


126  MINNESOTA 

district  attorney  from  office  (December  30, 1854), 
and  later  discontinued  the  suit. 

When  the  legislature  of  1855  convened,  on  Janu- 
ary 3,  the  company,  sustained  by  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  territory,  was  in  a  position  to  approach 
that  body  with  confidence.  Its  affairs  now  entered 
more  fully  than  ever  into  territorial  politics,  and  it 
is  only  on  this  account  that  further  notice  of  them 
is  taken.  Mr.  Rice,  sujiported  by  Mr.  Ramsey,  a 
director  of  the  company,  championed  the  railroad 
cause.  Governor  Gorman  and  Mr.  Sibley  led  the 
opposition  forces.  The  former  in  his  message  de- 
nounced the  "  or  "  and  "  and  "  jugglery,  and  the 
latter,  as  chairman  of  the  judiciary  committee  of 
the  lower  house,  framed  a  damaging  report  which 
called  for  a  memorial  to  Congress  to  annul  the 
charter  of  the  company  granted  by  the  Minnesota 
legislature  March  3,  1857.  The  memorial  was  not 
voted,  but  the  national  House  of  Representatives 
by  resolution  of  January  29  decided,  for  its  part, 
to  annul.  The  Senate  did  not  concur,  and  Delegate 
Rice  was  comforted.  "When  the  news  reached  St. 
Paul  on  March  24  the  whole  town  was  illuminated. 

The  charter  of  the  company  provided  that  unless 
fifty  miles  of  road  should  be  completed  within  one 
year  the  franchise  should  be  forfeited.  An  exten- 
sion of  time  and  certain  modifications  were  neces- 
sary. A  bill  granting  these  was  passed  by  sufficient 
majorities.  Governor  Gorman  vetoed  it  in  a  mes- 
sage of  great  sharpness,  closing  with  au  insinuation 


TERRITORIAL  DEVELOPMENT  127 

that  the  "money-king"  had  had  more  than  his 
share  of  influence.  The  houses  by  exact  two  thirds 
votes  passed  the  bill  over  the  executive  veto.  Mr. 
Sibley  and  his  friends  had  to  content  themselves 
with  a  personal  memorial  to  Congress,  which  his 
biographer  declares  to  be  unequaled  "  for  fearless 
and  burning  exposure  of  wrong  and  perfidy,  in  the 
annals  of  any  territory  or  state."  The  coni})any  had 
been  let  to  live,  but  it  was  obliged  to  apply  to  the 
next  legislature  (1856)  for  a  further  lease  of  life. 
This  was  accorded  by  good  majorities  in  both 
houses.  Again  Governor  Gorman  interposed  his  ob- 
jections, declaring  it  futile  to  extend  the  life  of  the 
corporation.  A  new  bill,  drawn  in  such  manner  as 
to  obviate  the  executive  criticisms,  was  passed  by 
a  close  vote  at  the  end  of  the  session.  The  bill 
received  the  reluctant  approval  of  the  governor. 
Three  successive  legislatures  having  sustained  the 
company's  charters,  he  acquiesced,  with  slight  con- 
fidence, however,  in  its  professions. 

The  company  now  made  a  second  resort  to  the 
courts  to  establish  its  claim  to  the  grant  of  June 
29,  1854.  One  of  its  directors,  having  bought  of  the 
United  States  a  piece  of  land  in  Dakota  County, 
brought  suit  against  the  railroad  conipan}'^  for  tres- 
pass. The  district  and  supreme  courts  of  the  terri- 
tory gave  judgment  for  tlie  defendant  company, 
holding  that  it  had  good  title  to  the  land  grant  and 
therefore  was  not  guilty  of  the  alleged  trespass. 
Before  entry  of  judgment,  however,  in  the  latter 


128  MINNESOTA 

court,  the  case  was  removed  to  the  United  States 
District  Court ;  and  this  tribunal  also  found  for  the 
defendant.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  on  writ  of  error  from  below,  in  December, 
1861,  disposed  of  the  case  by  deciding  (two  justices 
dissenting)  that  the  act  of  Congress  of  June  29, 
1854,  vested  in  the  Territory  of  Minnesota  no  more 
than  a  naked  trust  or  power,  which  could  be  and 
was  revoked  by  the  repealing  act.  The  territorial 
legislature  had  exceeded  its  power  in  attempting  to 
vest  title  in  fee  simple  in  the  railroad  company. 

It  was  in  the  period  now  in  view  that  Minneapo-  / 
lis,  which  has  become  the  largest  Minnesota  city, 
had  its  beginning.  The  military  reservation  of  Fort 
Snelling  as  delimited  by  jSIajor  Plympton  in  1839 
comprised,  as  was  guessed,  about  50,000  acres.  The 
surveys  made  in  later  times  show  nearly  35,000 
acres.  So  soon  as  it  became  known  that  a  treaty  of 
cession  would  be  exacted  from  the  Sioux,  it  was 
believed  by  the  neighboring  residents  that  Fort 
Snelling  would  be  abandoned  and  the  reservation 
opened  for  settlement.  In  1849,  when  the  first  at- 
tempt was  made  on  the  Sioux,  Robert  Smith  of 
Alton,  Illinois,  a  member  of  Congress,  having  a 
"  pull "  at  Washington,  got  leave  of  the  War  De- 
partment to  lease  the  government  mill  at  the  Falls 
of  St.  Anthony  on  the  west  side.  Later  this  con- 
cession ripened  into  a  purchase  of  a  quarter  section 
abutting  on  the  cataract.  In  the  next  year  John  H. 


TERRITORIAL  DEVELOPMENT  129 

Stevens,  acting  for  himself  and  another,  had  sim- 
ilar leave  granted  to  occupy  the  river  front  above 
the  Smith  claim,  on  condition  of  operating  a  ferry, 
free  to  government,  at  the  falls.  In  the  next  year, 
1851,  a  number  of  citizens  of  St.  Anthony,  already 
a  thriving  village  of  some  six  hundred  people, 
thought  it  would  be  well  to  establish  inchoate 
claims  on  some  of  the  beautiful  terraces  which  lay 
in  view  from  their  homes,  beyond  the  river.  They 
accordingly  crossed  over,  staked  out  quarter  sec- 
tions as  well  as  possible  in  the  absence  of  surveys, 
built  claim  shanties,  and  had  some  plowing  done. 
Still  another  year  later,  1852,  when  in  midsum- 
mer the  Sioux  treaties  and  amendments  had  been 
ratified  and  it  was  evident  that  the  Sioux  must  soon 
move  towards  the  sunset,  and  that  the  military 
reservation  would  be  given  up  and  opened  to  settle- 
ment, there  took  place  a  wild  rush  of  St.  Anthony 
men  across  the  stream  to  seize  on  the  coveted  lands. 
It  was  not  long  till  the  whole  terrain  of  Minneapolis 
was  covered  with  claims.  The  action  of  Congress 
ordering  a  survey  of  the  reserve  expedited  these 
irregular  preemptions. 

The  expectations  of  the  squatters  were  so  far  met 
that  on  August  26,  1852,  Congress  authorized  the 
"reduction"  of  the  reserve,  and  the  survey  and 
sale  of  the  excluded  area.  Two  years  passed  before 
the  surveys  were  completed  and  the  lands  adver- 
tised for  sale.  It  was  not  desired  that  haste  be 
made.  Ou  the  completion  of  the  surveyor's  work. 


130  MINNESOTA 

the  squatters  formed  a  so-called  "  Equal  Rights 
and  Impartial  Protection  Claim  Association  of 
Hennepin  County,  M.  T.,"  the  prime  object  of 
which  was  to  adjust  the  numerous  tracts  of  claim- 
ants to  the  lines  of  survey.  This  was  effected  by 
the  action  of  an  executive  committee  allowed  to 
use  discretion  and  guaranteed  support.  There  was 
a  second  use  for  this  organization.  There  was  a  con- 
siderable area  east  of  the  Mississippi  left  outside 
the  boundary  of  the  reduced  reserve.  This  had  been 
offered  for  sale  in  the  usual  subdivisions  in  Sep- 
tember, 1854,  at  public  auction.  There  was  but 
one  bidder,  and  he  was  surrounded  by  interested 
citizens  who  would  have  made  it  uncomfortable  for 
any  other  person  who  might  thoughtlessly  inject  a 
superfluous  bid  and  mar  the  harmony  of  the  occa- 
sion. The  government  got  $1.25,  the  minimum 
price  for  wild  lands,  for  property  worth  easily  ten 
times  that  sum,  and  nobody's  conscience  was 
strained.  In  anticipation  of  a  public  sale  of  the 
main  portion  of  the  reserved  lands  on  which  Min- 
neapolis has  been  built,  the  claim  association  men- 
tioned was  prepared,  by  similar  proceedings,  to 
prevent  any  speculators  (others  than  themselves) 
from  depriving  them  of  their  rights  by  offering  to 
pay  value  for  the  lands.  But  the  plats  were  by  some 
unknown  influence  held  back  in  Washington  and 
the  sale  was  postponed.  When  Congress  assembled 
in  December,  1854,  a  strong  delegation  of  claim- 
ants appeared  in  Washington  and  secured  further 


TERRITORIAL  DE^^ELOPMENT  131 

postponement  of  the  public  sale.  Delegate  Rice 
took  up  their  cause  with  vigor  and  presently  ob- 
tained the  passage  of  an  act  granting  preemption 
right  to  all  who  might  comply  with  preemption 
conditions.  In  the  spring  of  1855  the  fortunate 
claimants  proved  up,  and  the  government  received 
124,688.37  for  19,733.87  acres  of  land  worth 
more  than  §200,000.  There  is  a  tradition,  lacking 
support  by  particular  facts,  that  military  officers 
in  the  neighborhood  profited  by  arrangements  with 
squatters,  who  agreed  to  divide  spoils  in  considera- 
tion of  being  left  undisturbed  on  their  claims. 
Citizens  not  having  such  arrangements  were  dis- 
couraged, and  in  some  cases  driven  off  by  force. 

The  nucleus  of  Minneapolis  was  well  crystallized 
in  1855.  The  United  States  land  office  was  estab- 
lished, the  first  bridge  over  the  Mississippi  in  all 
its  length  was  built,  the  first  town  plat  surveyed, 
and  one  hundred  houses  built.  (In  1854  there  were 
but  twelve  scattered  claim  shanties.)  Seventeen 
stores  and  artisans'  shops  in  many  lines  sprang  up. 
There  was  a  hotel,  a  newspaper,  and  four  organ- 
ized churches.  Minneapolis  existed  under  town 
government  till  18G7,  and  in  1872  was  united  with 
St.  Anthony,  the  latter  city  losing  its  historic 
name.  The  name  Minneapolis  is  a  variant  on 
Min-ne-ha-polis,  proposed  by  Charles  Iloag.  After 
this  "reduction"  of  the  Snelling  reservation,  its 
area  covered  7916  acres,  as  shown  by  later  surveys. 

The  story  of  the  clandestine  sale  of  the  whole 


132  MINNESOTA 

by  Buchanan's  secretary  of  war  in  the  spring  of 
1857,  while  abounding  in  incident,  was  too  slight 
in  its  results  to  call  for  complete  narration.  It  is 
probably  not  true  that  this  sale  was  part  of  a 
scheme  attributed  to  Floyd,  to  squander  the  mili- 
tary resources  of  the  North  in  anticipation  of  a 
rebellion  of  the  South.  H.  M.  Rice  interested  him- 
self in  getting  the  necessary  legislation  and  orders 
for  the  sale.  The  whole  tract  was  sold  for  $90,000, 
of  which  one  third  was  paid  down.  The  purchaser 
defaulted  on  the  remainder,  and  the  government 
resumed  possession  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil 
War.  In  1872  the  claims  of  the  purchaser  for  his 
equity  and  rentals  were  adjusted  by  a  board  of 
military  officers,  which  awarded  him  6,394.80  acres, 
the  government  retaining  1,521.20  acres.  It  has 
been  found  necessary  to  repurchase  some  of  the 
alienated  land  for  the  uses  of  the  garrison. 

In  the  winter  of  1857  a  bill  to  move  the  capital 
to  St.  Peter  was  passed  in  both  houses  of  the  legis- 
lature. Joseph  Rolette  of  Pembina,  chairman  of 
the  council  committee  on  enrollment,  absented  him- 
self with  the  bill  till  after  the  close  of  the  session. 
The  speaker  signed  a  substituted  copy,  but  the  pre- 
sident of  the  council  refused.  Governor  Gorman 
approved,  but  the  Supreme  Court  held  that  no  law 
had  been  passed. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

TRANSITION   TO    STATEHOOD 

In  his  message  of  January,  1853,  Governor  Ram- 
sey had  prophesied  a  population  of  more  than  half 
a  million  in  ten  years.  Governor  Gorman,  in  a 
message  three  years  later,  figuring  on  an  increase 
of  114  per  cent,  in  the  previous  year,  advised  the 
legislature  that  they  might  expect  a  population  of 
343,000  in  two  years,  and  750,000  one  year  later. 

In  the  course  of  that  year  the  newspapers  began 
to  discuss  the  question  of  statehood,  and  when  the 
legislature  of  1857  assembled.  Governor  Gorman's 
proposition  to  call  a  convention  without  awaiting 
the  initiative  of  Congress  received  early  considera- 
tion. A  bill  to  provide  for  a  census  and  a  constitu- 
tional convention  was  passed  by  large  majorities  in 
both  houses,  but  seems  to  have  been  lost  by  the 
enrolling  committee  of  the  council,  and  was  not 
presented  for  executive  approval.  Pending  action 
on  this  bill  the  houses  passed  a  memorial  to  Con- 
gress praying  for  an  enabling  act.  Delegate  Rice, 
much  too  enterprising  a  politician  to  neglect  his 
duty  to  constituents  desirous  of  statehood,  early  in 
the  session  of  1857  had  introduced  a  bill  to  enable 
the  people  of  Minnesota  to  organize  as  a  state  and 


134  MINNESOTA 

come  into  tlie  Union.  Besides  a  little  pleasantry 
about  the  formation  of  a  sixth  state  in  part  out  of 
the  old  Northwest  Territory,  while  the  ordinance 
of  1787  had  provided  for  five  only,  there  was  no 
opposition  to  the  bill  in  the  House.  It  found,  how- 
ever, a  hard  road  to  travel  in  the  Senate.  The 
ostensible  ground  of  opposition  was  that  the  bill 
allowed  white  inhabitants  of  the  territory,  aliens 
and  all,  to  vote  for  delegates  to  the  convention.  An 
amendment  to  confine  the  suffrage  to  citizens  of 
the  United  States  prevailed  by  a  close  vote  on  a 
late  day  in  February.  In  this  amendment  it  was 
known  the  House  would  not  concur,  and  the  oppo- 
sition were  content.  A  reconsideration  was  obtained, 
however,  by  the  friends  of  the  bill,  and  a  long  de- 
bate followed,  in  the  course  of  which  the  actual 
gi-ound  of  opposition  was  revealed.  The  "equi- 
librium of  the  Senate  "  was  threatened,  and  might 
be  destroyed  by  the  senators  the  new  state  should 
elect.  Regret  was  expressed  that  Iowa  and  Wis- 
consin had  been  admitted  as  states,  and  one  senator 
revived  a  letter  of  Gouverneur  Morris  in  which  that 
statesman  denied  the  right  of  Congress  to  admit 
new  states  on  territory  acquired  after  the  adoption 
of  the  constitution. 

The  alien  suffrage  amendment,  however,  was 
rescinded,  and  the  bill  as  it  came  from  the  House 
passed  by  a  vote  of  31  to  22  ;  every  negative  vote 
came  from  south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line.  It 
may  be  conjectured  that  the  object  of  the  Minne- 


TRANSITION  TO   STATEHOOD  135 

sota  legislature  in  nursing  along  its  bill  to  form  a 
state  government  without  an  enabling  act  of  Con- 
gress was  to  let  Congress  kuow  that  its  action  was 
not  indispensable. 

The  enabling  act  as  passed  February  26,  1857, 
was  in  the  form  which  had  become  traditional,  and 
embodied  the  usual  grants  of  public  lands  for 
schools,  a  university,  and  public  buildings.  The 
boundaries  of  the  proposed  state  were  those  of 
the  territory  except  that  on  the  west,  which  was 
drawn  in  from  the  Missouri  River  to  the  line  of 
the  Red,  thus  reducing  the  area  about  one  half. 
Revised  computations  give  Minnesota  84,287  square 
miles,  or  about  54,000,000  acres. 

The  act  provided  for  an  election  of  delegates  to 
a  convention  on  the  first  Monday  in  June,  under 
the  existing  election  laws  of  the  territory.  An  am- 
biguous clause  authorizing  the  election  of  "  two 
delegates  for  each  representative,"  according  to  the 
apportionment  for  representatives  to  the  territorial 
legislature,  ignoring  councilors  as  such,  became 
the  occasion  of  trouble.  The  Minnesota  legislature, 
in  an  act  of  May  23,  appropriating  |!30,000  for  the 
expenses  of  the  convention,  provided  that  each 
council  district  should  have  two  delegates,  and  each 
representative  district  also  two.  The  number  of 
delegates  was  thus  fixed  at  108,  instead  of  G8. 

Governor  Gorman  on  April  27  called  a  special 
session  of  the  legislature  to  take  any  necessary 
action  regarding   the   coming  convention,  and   to 


136  MINNESOTA 

dispose  of  a  railroad  land  grant  which  Congress 
had  made.  This  will  engage  attention  later.  Gov- 
ernor Gorman,  however,  did  not  officially  survive 
to  cooperate  in  the  making  of  the  state  constitu- 
tion. Mr.  Rice,  warmly  attached  to  President  Bu- 
chanan, who  had  come  into  office  in  March,  would, 
it  was  well  known,  secure  Governor  Gorman's  early 
retirement  to  private  life.  They  had  not  been  of 
much  comfort  to  one  another  in  railroad  and  other 
matters.  Governor  Gorman  resigned,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  the  Hon.  Samuel  Medary  of  Ohio,  who 
had  done  good  party  service  through  his  newspaper 
and  otherwise.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  excellent 
character,  but  remained  in  Minnesota  too  short  a 
time  to  identify  or  even  acquaint  himself  with  her 
people  and  interests. 

The  Whigs  had  never  been  strong  in  the  terri- 
tory, nor  well  organized.  The  "  Moccasin  Demo- 
cracy" had  become  habituated  to  control,  and 
expected  indefinite  enjoyment  of  official  emolu- 
ments. The  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill 
by  Congress  on  May  26, 1854,  rudely  disturbed  this 
pleasant  dream.  A  new  party  of  protest  against  the 
introduction  and  maintenance  of  African  slaveiy 
in  the  territories,  under  active  national  protection, 
sprang  into  being.  A  Republican  convention  met 
in  St.  Paul,  July  28, 1855,  adopted  a  platform,  and 
nominated  candidates  for  territorial  offices.  It  also 
nominated  the  leader  of  the  movement,  William 
R.  Marshall,  to  succeed  Mr.  Rice  as  delegate  to 


TRANSITION   TO   STATEHOOD  137 

Congress.  Mr.  Rice  had  too  many  electors  person- 
ally attached  to  himself  to  be  beaten.  It  has  been 
thought,  however,  that  Marshall  might  have  won 
but  for  a  "  prohibition "  plank  in  the  platform, 
which  lost  him  the  German  vote.  At  the  election  of 
1856  the  Republicans  obtained  a  working  majority 
in  the  lower  house  of  the  legislature  to  meet  in  the 
following  winter.  As  the  day  dx'ew  on  for  the  election 
of  delegates  to  the  convention  both  parties  were 
anxious  about  the  result.  The  Democrats  held  on 
to  the  hope  of  recovering  control;  the  Republicans 
were  none  too  confident  that  they  could  hold  their 
slight  balance  of  power.  The  issue  was  declared  by 
the  leading  Democratic  newspaper  to  be  "  White 
Supremacy  ■versus  Nigger  Equality."  The  vote  was 
unexpectedly  light,  and  the  results  were  not  clearly 
decisive.  In  a  few  districts  "  councilor  "  delegates 
had  been  distinguished  on  the  ballots  from  "  repre- 
sentative "  delegates ;  in  most  cases  they  had  not. 
In  the  St.  Anthony  district  the  canvassing  officer 
gave  certificates  of  election  to  Republican  candi- 
dates who  had  received  fewer  votes  than  the  Dem- 
ocratic, on  the  ground  that  the  Democratic  ballots 
had  not  distinguished  the  nominees  for  councilor 
and  representative  delegates. 

The  control  of  the  convention  would,  it  was 
maintained,  depend  on  the  action  of  the  committee 
on  credentials  to  be  appointed  by  the  presiding  offi- 
cer. To  capture  the  "  organization  "  became  the 
object  of  each  of  the  nearly  balanced  parties.  It 


138  MINNESOTA 

chanced  that  the  enabling  act  had  not  specified  the 
houi-  for  the  assembhige  of  the  convention.  The  ex- 
cited and  suspicious  leaders  were  unable  to  agree 
informally.  To  make  sure  of  being  on  hand  the 
liepublican  delegates  repaired  to  the  capitol  late 
on  the  Sunday  night  preceding  the  first  Monday 
in  June,  and  remained  there,  as  one  of  them 
phrased  it,  "to  watch  and  pray  for  the  Democratic 
brethren."  These  did  not  ajipear  till  a  few  moments 
before  twelve  o'clock  noon  of  the  appointed  day. 
Immediately  upon  their  entrance  in  a  body  into 
the  representatives'  hall  Charles  R.  Chase,  secre- 
tary of  the  territory  and  a  delegate,  proceeded  to 
the  speaker's  desk  and  called  to  order.  At  the  same 
moment  John  W.  North,  a  Republican  delegate, 
designated  by  his  colleagues,  called  to  order.  A 
motion  to  adjourn  was  made  by  Colonel  Gorman, 
and  the  question  was  taken  by  Chase,  who  declared 
it  carried.  The  Democrats  left  the  hall  to  the  Re- 
publicans, who  proceeded  to  organize  the  conven- 
tion. Fifty-six  delegates  presented  credentials  in 
proper  form  and  took  their  oaths  to  support  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States. 

At  noon  of  Tuesday  the  Democratic  delegates 
assembled  about  the  door  of  the  hall,  and,  finding 
it  occupied  by  citizens  who  refused  to  give  them 
place,  met  in  the  adjacent  council  chamber  and 
proceeded  to  organize  the  convention.  Henry  II. 
Sibley  was  made  chairman,  on  motion  of  Joseph 
R.  Brown,  and  later  became  president  of  the  body. 


TRANSITION  TO  STATEHOOD  139 

From  that  day  till  the  close  of  their  labors,  August 
28,  the  two  conventions  sat  apart.  St.  Anthony 
was  represented  by  six  delegates  in  each,  so  that 
the  whole  number  participating  was  one  hundred 
and  fourteen.  Their  proceedings,  published  in 
separate  volumes,  show  a  commendable  diligence 
in  business.  An  undue  amount  of  time  was  giv^en 
to  oratory  in  defense  of  the  legitimacy  of  the  re- 
spective moieties. 

As  the  delegates  had  for  examples  the  constitu- 
tions of  all  the  states  carved  out  of  the  Northwest 
Territory,  and  in  particular  of  the  very  recent  ones 
of  Wisconsin  and  Iowa,  the  task  of  framing  the 
various  articles  was  not  burdensome.  Most  of  thera 
were  adopted,  with  little  or  no  debate,  as  reported 
from  the  standing  committees.  The  Republicans 
refused  by  a  two-thirds  vote  to  tolerate  negro  suf- 
frage. A  proposition  to  submit  to  Congress  the 
division  of  the  existing  territory  by  an  east  and 
west  line  on  the  latitude  of  45°  15'  or  45°  30'  was 
much  discussed  in  both  bodies.  It  was  so  much 
favored  by  the  Republicans  that  a  change  of  three 
votes  would  have  given  it  a  majority.  The  Demo- 
crats, attached  to  St.  Paul  and  strong  in  the  north- 
ern counties,  gave  the  scheme  slight  support. 

The  absurdity  of  the  situation  was  ap})arent,  but 
pride  restrained  both  bodies  from  taking  a  first 
move  towards  coalescence.  At  length  on  the  8th 
of  August  Judge  Sherburne,  a  member  of  the 
Democratic  convention,  highly  respected  by  Re- 


140  MINNESOTA 

publicans  as  well,  proposed  the  appointment  of 
conferees  to  report  a  plan  of  union.  The  venerable 
jurist  saw  his  resolution  indefinitely  postponed, 
after  a  debate  abounding  in  heroic  rhetoric.  Two 
days  after,  the  Republicans  passed  a  preamble  and 
resolutions  in  the  exact  terms  of  those  of  Judge 
Sherburne  and  sent  them  to  President  Sibley.  A 
select  committee,  headed  by  Gorman,  advised  that 
no  communication  could  be  entertained  which  ques- 
tioned the  legal  status  of  the  Democratic  body. 
The  report  was  unanimously  adopted. 

By  this  time  the  Republican  delegates  had  found 
themselves  at  a  certain  disadvantage,  from  which 
relief  was  to  many  very  desirable.  The  Democratic 
treasurer  of  the  territory  had  refused  to  honor  their 
pay  accounts,  and  they  were  serving  the  public  at 
their  own  expense.  Doubtless  from  extraneous 
overtures  made  by  them,  the  two  bodies  on  the 
morning  of  August  18  adopted  resolutions  to  ap- 
point conferees.  These  were  immediately  named  and 
began  their  duties.  By  this  time  all  the  necessary 
articles  had  been  drafted,  and  as  both  bodies  had 
drawn  from  the  same  sources  the  conference  com- 
mittee had  an  easy  task.  Those  wrought  out  by  the 
Democratic  delegates,  who  were  the  older  and 
more  experienced  men,  were  chiefly  adopted.  A\"hen 
Judge  Sherburne  on  August  27  laid  before  the 
Democratic  convention  the  report  of  the  conferees, 
with  the  comforting  assurance  that  it  was  composed 
of  the  Democratic  material  "almost  altogether," 


TRANSITION   TO  STATEHOOD  141 

the  chair  was  obliged  to  exercise  no  little  firmness 
to  restrain  a  turbulent  opposition.  A  test  vote 
showed  a  majority  of  more  than  three  fourths  for 
adoption.  The  fiual  vote  went  over. 

The  next  morning,  August  28,  both  bodies  agreed 
to  the  report  without  amendment.  There  was  some 
resistance  in  the  Republican  end,  but  it  gave  way 
when  a  leader  assured  the  dissentients  that  they 
had  a  dose  to  swallow,  and  they  might  as  well  shut 
their  eyes  and  open  their  mouths  and  take  it.  Two 
copies  were  made  of  the  one  constitution  thus 
agreed  to,  one  of  which  was  signed  by  the  officers 
and  members  of  each  body  resjiectively.  The  lie- 
publican  manuscript  remains  in  the  state  archives. 
Joseph  R.  Brown  expressed  the  opinion  that  the 
split  into  two  bodies  had  been  economical.  Had 
the  convention  met  in  one  body,  the  orators  by 
their  revilings  and  vituperations  would  have  pro- 
longed the  session  till  the  end  of  the  year  and  the 
expenses  would  have  been  doubled.  Spite  of  the 
generous  endeavor  of  this  delegate,  the  Democrats 
refused  to  agree  that  the  Republicans  should  draw 
their  pay.  A  subsequent  legislatui-e  provided  for 
them.  Both  parties  were  quite  content  with  the 
constitution ;  the  Democrats  for  what  they  had  con- 
served, the  Republicans  for  germs  of  future  devel- 
opment. 

The  boom  period  which  culminated  in  1857  was 
nowhere  more  exuberant  than  in  Minnesota.   The 


142  MINNESOTA 

swelling  tide  of  population  of  the  previous  two 
years  had  brought  in  a  body  of  speculators  who 
presently  gorged  themselves  with  the  unearned 
increments  of  land  and  town  lot  values.  The  whole 
population  caught  the  fever  and  bought  for  the 
expected  rise.  The  country  people  found  ready  sale 
for  produce  in  the  growing  towns,  and  the  mer- 
chants profited  by  their  prosperity.  The  resulting 
elation  and  extravagance  were  at  no  time  more 
abounding  than  in  the  closing  days  of  the  consti- 
tutional convention. 

It  was  the  24th  of  August  when  the  failure  of 
the  Ohio  Life  Insurance  and  Trust  Company  of 
New  York  precipitated  the  liquidation  of  incredibly 
multiplied  credits  in  the  East.  A  week  later  the 
tardy  mails  brought  the  news  to  St.  Paul,  and 
nowhere  in  the  country  did  the  panic  strike  with 
greater  violence.  The  little  money,  real  and  pro- 
missory, sank  out  of  sight.  Deposits  ceasing,  the 
banks  suspended.  Eastern  exchange  rose  to  ten 
per  cent.  Assignments,  foreclosures,  attachments, 
and  executions  made  law  practice  the  only  profit- 
able pursuit.  The  horde  of  speculators  who  had 
infested  the  towns  and  villages  abandoned  tlieir 
holdings  and  made  their  escape.  According  to 
J.  Fletcher  Williams,  the  lamented  historian  of  St. 
Paul,  that  city  lost  fifty  per  cent,  of  its  population. 
From  the  crest  of  a  high  wave  of  fancied  opulence, 
the  new  state  was  thus  suddenly  plunged  into  a 
deep  trough  of  adversity  and  despondence ;  and  it 


TRANSITION   TO   STATEHOOD  143 

was  a  long  day  till  she  rose  to  the  level  of  normal 
prosperity. 

The  keenest  of  all  disappointments  was  the  post- 
ponement of  railroad  building.  A  score  or  more 
of  chartered  companies  could  not  borrow  enough 
ready  cash  to  pay  for  their  surveys.  A  generous 
congressional  act  of  1857,  engineered  by  Delegate 
Rice,  had  made  the  Minnesotians  of  all  classes 
joyous.  That  act  bestowed  on  the  territory  and 
expectant  state  a  grant  of  public  lands  equal  to 
nearly  a  ninth  of  its  whole  area,  to  aid  in  the 
building  of  railroads.  It  is  probable  that  this  bene- 
faction was  all  the  more  willingly  bestowed  because 
the  territory  had  three  years  before  been  deprived 
of  a  noble  grant  by  no  fault  of  her  own.  The  act 
did  not  convey  the  lands  to  the  state,  but  made  the 
state  a  trustee  for  four  different  railroad  "  inter- 
ests "  aspiring  each  to  build  its  portion  of  a  system 
of  roads  coextensive  with  the  state. 

The  legislature  of  1857,  in  the  extra  session 
already  mentioned,  accepted  the  trust  created  by 
the  congressional  grant,  recognized  the  four  com- 
panies to  construct  each  its  part  of  the  system,  and 
pledged  to  each  its  allotted  lands  as  they  should  be 
earned  by  the  completion  of  successive  twenty-mile 
stretches  of  road.  With  a  bird  in  the  bush  the 
Minnesota  people  were  childishly  happy.  They 
saw  a  thousand  miles  of  railway  as  good  as  built, 
spreading  population  far  and  wide  and  carrying 
the  produce  of  an  empire  to  waiting  markets. 


144  MINNESOTA 

It  was  a  good  fortune  for  the  territory  that  the 
organic  law  gave  it  no  power  to  run  in  debt.  It 
was  equally  unfortunate  that  a  corporation  created 
by  it  could  and  did  run  in  debt.  In  the  same  Feb- 
ruary of  1851  in  which  Delegate  Sibley  secured 
from  Congress  the  reservation  of  the  two  town- 
ships of  land  to  endow  a  university,  the  Minnesota 
legislature  created  the  University  of  Minnesota,  to 
be  located  at  or  near  St.  Anthony's  Falls.  The  act 
provided  for  a  board  of  twelve  regents  to  be 
elected  by  the  legislature  in  joint  session,  in  classes 
for  six-year  terms.  The  gentlemen  immediately 
elected,  among  them  Sibley,  Kamsey,  Rice,  North, 
and  Marshall,  commanded,  as  they  deserved,  the 
confidence  of  the  people.  The  board  organized  on 
the  last  day  of  May,  1851,  and  resolved  to  open  a 
preparatory  department  as  soon  as  possible.  One 
of  their  number,  Franklin  Steele,  gave  a  bunch  of 
lots  in  St.  Anthony's  Falls  near  the  site  of  the 
well-known  Winslow  Hotel,  later  occupied  by 
the  Northwestern  Industrial  Exposition  building ; 
others  subscribed  money ;  and  a  few  books  were 
thrown  in  to  be  the  nucleus  of  the  library.  In  a 
wooden  building  30  by  50  feet,  two  stories  and  a 
basement,  the  preparatory  school  was  opened  on 
November  26.  It  continued  a  useful  existence  till 
the  close  of  1854.  By  this  time  the  regents,  among 
whom  there  had  been  changes  of  personnel,  became 
desirous  to  open  the  "  university  proper."  In  that 
year  they  had  located  through  competent  experts 


TRANSITION  TO  STATEHOOD  145 

several  thousand  acres  of  the  lands  reserved  by 
Congress  on  the  best  pine  in  the  StiUwater  dis- 
trict. The  lands  they  could  not  sell,  but  they 
did  despoil  them  by  selling  the  "  stumpage,"  and 
used  the  money  as  collected  for  university  pur- 
poses. They  bought  the  heart  of  the  present  cam- 
pus, twenty-five  acres,  more  or  less,  for  '$6000, 
paying  cash  SIOOO  and  giving  their  notes  for  the 
remainder.  The  stumpage  receipts  were  too  small 
and  came  in  too  slowly  to  warrant  large  expendi- 
tures for  development.  On  February  28,  1856, 
the  legislature  authorized  the  regents  to  borrow 
f  15,000  on  twelve  per  cent,  bonds  secured  by  mort- 
gage on  the  campus ;  fSOOO  to  pay  the  balance 
due  on  the  campus,  $10,000  for  a  building.  In 
August  of  the  same  year  the  board,  much  deterio- 
rated by  a  late  election,  voted  by  a  majority  of  one 
to  close  a  contract  for  a  building  to  cost  $49,000, 
to  be  completed  within  eighteen  months.  When  a 
year  later,  almost  to  a  day,  the  panic  struck,  the 
building  was  nearly  complete  and  large  sums  were 
due  the  contractors.  The  sales  of  pine  stopped  and 
collections  for  previous  sales  ceased.  The  concern 
was  bankrupt  and  so  remained  for  nearly  a  decade. 
A  paragraph  of  the  state  constitution,  retained 
against  no  sliglit  opposition,  confirmed  the  location 
of  the  university  and  devolved  all  university  lands 
and  endowments  then  existing  or  to  be  thereafter 
granted  on  the  "  University  of  Minnesota." 


146  MINNESOTA 

The  closing  year  of  Minnesota's  territorial  ex- 
istence was  diversified  by  an  Indian  butchery, 
horrible  indeed  in  its  immediate  incidents,  but  es- 
pecially noteworthy  for  its  contribution  to  later 
atrocities.  For  many  years  a  renegade  band  of  the 
Wah-pd-ku-te  tribe  of  the  Sioux  had  wandered 
in  the  Missouri  valley  under  the  leading  of  one 
Inkpaduta  (Scarlet  Point).  In  the  spring  of  1857 
these  Indians  were  hunting  in  northwestern  Iowa, 
and  on  March  6  or  7  fell  upon  the  little  settlement 
of  Spirit  Lake  in  Henderson  County,  murdered 
some  forty  persons,  as  estimated,  and  carried  four 
women  into  captivity.  Marching  on  the  little  ham- 
let of  Springfield,  some  fifteen  miles  to  the  north, 
in  Martin  County,  Minnesota,  they  found  but  few 
victims,  because  a  refugee  from  Spirit  Lake  had 
arrived  before  them.  The  news  of  these  outrages 
did  not  reach  Agent  Flandrau  at  the  Lower  Sioux 
agency  till  the  18th.  Upon  his  requisition,  Captain 
Alexander  Bee,  commanding  the  little  garrison  at 
Fort  Ridgely,  with  his  company  of  infantry,  led  a 
lively  but  fruitless  pursuit  of  Inkpaduta,  who  had 
gone  off  to  the  Missouri.  It  was  well  understood 
that  so  long  as  the  miscreant  held  the  four  women, 
no  punishment  could  be  inflicted  on  him.  In  May 
two  young  annuity  Sioux,  who  had  been  hunting 
westward,  brought  one  of  the  women  (Mrs.  Markle) 
into  the  agency.  They  had  bought  her  with  their 
horses  and  guns,  and  asked  ^'SOO  each  as  reward, 
which  Agent  Flandrau  and  Missionary  Eiggs  paid, 


TRANSITION  TO  STATEHOOD  147 

half  in  cash  and  half  in  a  promissory  bond  of  ex- 
traordinary character  which  the  traders  cashed. 
This  generosity  had  its  intended  effect  to  call  out 
volunteers  for  the  rescue  of  the  other  captives. 
Two  capable  Christian  Sioux  were  selected,  fur- 
nished with  transportation  and  plenty  of  Indian 
goods  and  sent  out.  After  six  days'  march  they 
came  upon  the  dead  body  of  one  of  the  women, 
and  presently  learned  that  another  had  been  put 
to  death.  In  a  camp  of  Yauktons  they  found  the 
fourth,  Miss  Gardiner,  and  bought  her  for  two 
horses,  seven  blankets,  two  kegs  of  powder,  a  box 
of  tobacco,  and  some  trinkets.  Only  one  half  of 
the  $10,000  appropriated  by  the  Minnesota  legis- 
lature was  needed  to  cover  the  cost  of  these  rescues. 
The  Indian  authorities,  local  and  national,  now 
resolved  to  visit  Inkpaduta  with  just  punishment, 
and  decided  upon  the  plan  of  enlisting  volunteers 
among  the  annuity  Sioux  to  pursue  and  capture 
the  scoundrel  and  his  band.  Few  or  none  offered 
themselves.  Summer  came  on  and  5000  Indians 
had  gathered  about  the  agencies  for  the  annual 
payment.  A  number  of  councils  were  held,  in  the 
course  of  which  the  agent  threatened  to  withhold 
the  payments  until  Inkpaduta  had  been  brought 
in.  This  threat  had  some  effect,  but  presents  of 
blankets  and  provisions  had  more.  At  length,  on 
the  22d  of  July,  an  expedition  of  106  Indians  and 
four  half-breeds  was  started  for  the  James  River 
country.  It  returned  August  3,  bringing  two  women 


148  MINNESOTA 

and  a  child  as  prisoners,  but  no  Inkpaduta.  In  vain 
did  Major  Cullen,  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs 
for  the  territory,  who  had  come  to  the  Sioux  agen- 
cies, insist  that  Inkpaduta  should  be  brought  in, 
and  by  the  Indians  themselves,  and  declare  that 
there  would  be  no  payment  of  money,  goods,  or  pro- 
visions till  the  murderers  should  be  in  his  hands. 
The  Sioux,  although  by  this  time  on  the  verge  of 
starvation,  would  not  stir.  They  were  sullen  and 
defiant.  A  special  agent  sent  from  Washington 
advised  the  supei"intendent  to  make  believe  that 
the  Indians  had  done  all  they  could,  and  might 
therefore  be  paid  off.  It  was  late  in  September 
when  the  Indians  got  their  money  and  goods  and 
marched  off  to  their  fall  hunts.  They  had  had  their 
way  with  the  agents  of  the  Great  Father,  and  sus- 
pected that  he  was  not  so  powerful  as  they  had  been 
told  he  was.  He  had  not  been  able  to  run  down 
Inkpaduta  and  his  little  band.  AVhat  could  he  do 
against  the  great  Sioux  nation  of  many  thousands  ? 

The  new  constitution  of  Minnesota  closed  with  a 
supplementary  "schedule"  of  provisions  temporary 
in  nature.  All  territorial  rights,  actions,  laws,  prose- 
cutions, and  judgments  were  to  remain  in  force  until 
proper  action  under  state  authority.  All  territorial 
officers  were  to  continue  their  duties  until  super- 
seded by  state  authority.  A  referendum  of  the  con- 
stitution was  ordered  for  October  13  (1857),  at 
which  time  all  the  officers  designated  by  the  con- 


TRANSITION  TO  STATEHOOD  149 

stitution  were  to  be  elected  under  the  existing  terri- 
torial election  law.  Every  free  white  male  inhabitant 
of  full  age,  who  should  have  resided  in  the  state  for 
ten  days  before  the  election,  was  authorized  to  vote. 
Section  four  of  the  enabling  act  required  the  United 
States  marshal,  so  soon  as  the  convention  should 
have  decided  in  favor  of  statehood  and  admission, 
to  take  a  census  of  the  population.  This  was  not 
completed  during  tlie  life  (forty-two  days)  of  the 
convention.  It  being,  therefore,  impracticable  to 
divide  the  state  into  congressional  districts,  it  was 
made  a  single  district.  In  the  belief  that  the  popu- 
lation must  be  near  250,000,  provision  was  made 
for  electing  three  representatives  in  Congress.  The 
completed  census  yielded  the  disappointingly  small 
total  of  150,037.  Governor  Medary  and  two  dele- 
gates were  made  a  canvassing  board. 

While  the  constitution  was  acceptable  to  all,  the 
two  parties  put  forth  all  possible  effort  to  capture 
the  ofiices.  The  canvass  showed  the  vote  on  the 
ratification  of  the  constitution  to  be  :  Yeas,  36,240 ; 
nays,  700.  The  Democrats  obtained  a  majority  of 
the  legislators  and  nearly  all  the  state  and  national 
officers.  The  candidates  for  the  governorship  were 
Sibley  and  Kamsey,  the  former  winning  by  the 
slender  majority  of  240  in  a  total  of  35,340.  The 
claim  was  made  that  this  majority  was  obtained  by 
irregularities  in  making  the  returns,  but  there  was 
no  contest. 

The  schedule  had  fixed  the  early  date  of  Decem- 


150  MINNESOTA 

ber  3  for  the  assemblage  of  the  legislature,  in  the 
expectation  shared  by  all  that  within  a  few  days 
thereafter  Congress  would  admit  the  new  state  to 
the  Union,  and  her  senators  and  representatives 
elect  to  their  seats.  A  half  year,  however,  was  to 
run  by  during  which  Minnesota,  as  described  by 
Governor  Sibley,  hung  like  the  coffin  of  the  prophet 
of  Islam  between  the  heavens  and  the  earth.  The 
legislature  met,  December  2,  1857,  and  in  joint 
convention,  by  the  close  vote  of  59  to  49,  decided 
to  recognize  Mr.  Medary  as  "  governor."  In  his 
message  he  recognized  the  body  as  a  state  legisla- 
ture. Still  there  was  doubt  about  the  legal  status 
of  the  houses,  and  there  was  little  desire  to  under- 
take business  which  might  turn  out  to  be  illegiti- 
mate. The  Republican  members  entered  formal 
protests  against  any  legislation.  There  was,  how- 
ever, one  bit  of  business  which  the  Democratic 
majority  felt  could  not  be  postponed ;  and  that  was 
the  election  of  two  United  States  senators.  That 
was  virtually  settled  in  caucus.  Henry  IVI.  Kice,  as 
everybody  expected,  was  nominated  without  oppo- 
sition. The  second  place,  for  the  short  term,  went, 
after  several  ballotings,  to  General  James  Shields, 
who  was  a  newcomer  and  little  known  in  Minne- 
sota. He  had  served  with  distinction  in  the  Mexi- 
can War,  filled  many  offices  in  his  former  state  of 
Illinois,  and  served  a  term  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States.  It  was  a  bitter  pill  for  such  Demo- 
cratic wheel-horses  as  Sibley,  Brown,  and  Gorman 


TRANSITION  TO   STATEHOOD  151 

to  swallow.  Franklin  Steele  never  forgave  Rice  for 
failing,  as  he  claimed,  to  throw  the  election  to  him. 
Shields  was  everybody's  second  choice,  and  the  ex- 
pectation was  that  his  personal  influence  in  Wash- 
ington would  procure  many  good  things  for  the 
state. 

President  Buchanan,  for  reasons  not  apparent, 
did  not  transmit  the  Minnesota  constitution  —  the 
Democratic  version  —  to  the  Senate  till  near  the 
middle  of  January,  1858.  A  fortnight  later  the  bill 
to  admit  was  reported  from  the  committee  on  terri- 
tories. The  same  kind  of  opposition  now  broke  out 
as  had  impeded  the  progress  of  the  Minnesota  en- 
abling act  a  twelvemonth  before.  Southern  sena- 
tors were  loath  to  see  a  new  Northern  state  come 
in,  even  with  a  Democratic  delegation  awaiting 
admission  to  both  houses.  They  were  also  technical 
and  persistent  about  holding  to  the  traditional  cus- 
tom of  admitting  states  alternately  slave  and  free. 
It  was  the  turn  for  a  slave  state  to  come  in,  and 
Kansas  with  her  infamous  "Lecompton"  slave  con- 
stitution was  knocking  at  the  door.  To  give  the 
right  of  way  to  the  "  English  bill  "  admitting  Kan- 
sas, dilatory  measures  were  successfully  resorted 
to.  A  debate  covering  twenty-three  pages  of  the 
"  Congressional  Globe  "  took  place  on  the  question 
whether  the  Senate  would  consider  the  Minnesota 
bill.  That  havinfr  been  aj^reed  to  on  the  24th  of 
March,  days  of  tedious  wrangling  followed  upon 


152  MINNESOTA 

objections  raised  by  opponents.  The  election,  it 
was  argued,  was  void  for  frauds  committed ;  aliens 
had  been  allowed  to  vote  ;  the  still  incompleted 
census  was  farcical ;  some  assistant  marshals  had 
destroyed  the  returns  they  should  have  given  in ; 
in  some  instances  there  was  not  one  tenth  as  many 
people  found  in  precincts  as  had  voted.  The  right 
of  the  state  to  three,  two,  or  even  any  representa- 
tive in  Congress  was  questioned.  Minnesota  was 
still  a  territory,  and  territories  had  no  right  to 
representation  in  the  Senate  or  in  the  House,  except 
by  a  delegate  having  no  vote.  There  had  been  no 
legal  convention,  it  was  said,  and  no  legitimate 
constitution  had  been  adopted  by  the  people.  The 
debate  went  on  till  April  8,  when,  the  English  bill 
admitting  Kansas  having  been  put  through  the 
Senate,  the  opposition  ceased  and  the  Minnesota 
bill  passed  with  but  three  dissenting  votes  out  of 
fifty-two.  The  palaver  occupies  nearly  one  hundred 
pages  of  the  "  Globe."  The  bill  now  went  to  the 
House,  and  there  the  English  bill  stood  in  its  way 
till  the  4th  of  May.  The  pro-slavery  opposition  at 
once  showed  itself  under  cover  of  the  same  objec- 
tions which  had  been  so  tediously  debated  in  the 
Senate.  There  had  been  no  proper  convention,  the 
election  was  void  for  frauds,  the  territorial  legisla- 
ture in  session  was  presuming  to  act  as  a  state 
legislature,  and  the  like.  In  the  course  of  a  wrangle 
on  the  matter  of  alien  voting,  a  Missouri  member 
in  a  heated  moment  revealed  the  actual  ground  of 


TRANSITION   TO  STATEHOOD  153 

the  opposition.  He  said,  "  I  warn  gentlemen  of  the 
South  of  the  consequences.  ,  .  .  The  whole  terri- 
tories of  the  Union  are  rapidly  filling  up  with 
foreigners.  The  great  body  of  them  are  opposed 
to  slavery.  Mark  my  words ;  if  you  do  it,  another 
slave  state  will  never  be  formed  out  of  the  terri- 
tories of  this  Union."  There  was  also  an  attack  on 
the  bill  from  an  unexpected  quarter.  John  Sher- 
man of  Ohio  introduced  a  substitute,  annulling  all 
proceedings  so  far  had,  and  providing  for  a  new 
convention  in  Minnesota.  In  his  speech  he  declared 
there  had  been  no  convention,  but  only  two  mobs. 
The  number  of  delegates  had  been  unlawfully 
raised  from  68  to  108.  All  proceedings  under  the 
enabling  act,  including  the  election  of  October  13, 
were  void.  A  printed  letter  was  circulated  among 
Republican  senators  and  representatives  from  which 
Mr.  Sherman  had  evidently  derived  his  allegations. 
This  document  came  from  a  Minnesota  Republican 
source  and  evidenced  the  desire  for  an  entire  new 
deal.  There  was  ground  for  hope  that  in  new  elec- 
tions the  Republican  party  might  overcome  the 
slight  Democratic  pluralities.  This  move  on  the 
political  chessboard  had  the  effect  to  rally  Demo- 
cratic support  to  the  pending  bill  for  admission 
of  Minnesota  with  her  waiting  delegation.  A  new 
election  might  change  its  complexion.  On  May  11 
the  bill  was  passed  by  the  vote  of  157  to  38.  The 
next  day  it  received  the  ])residential  approval,  and 
Messrs.   Rice  and   Shields,  who  had   been   living 


154  .  MINNESOTA 

since  December  at  their  own  charges,  were  sworn 
as  senators. 

The  Senate  bill,  concurred  in  by  the  House, 
allowed  Minnesota  but  two  representatives.  Three 
had  been  elected  and  had  been  waiting  for  five 
months  to  be  seated.  To  eliminate  one  of  these, 
lots  were  drawn,  and  George  L.  Becker,  the  best 
man  of  the  three,  was  thrown  out.  The  two  who 
had  drawn  the  long  straws  filed  their  credentials, 
and  the  House  committee  on  elections  informed 
the  House  that  they  had  no  knowledge  of  a  third 
representative-elect  from  Minnesota.  Two  days  of 
ineffective  contention  over  the  legitimacy  of  the 
elections  of  the  lucky  two,  Messrs.  William  W. 
Phelps  and  James  M.  Cavanaugh,  followed.  The 
vote  to  admit  stood  127  to  63.  The  records  of  de- 
bates and  proceedings  cover  225  columns  of  the 
"Globe,"  of  1000  words  each  or  thereabout. 

During  the  months  the  Minnesota  representa- 
tives had  been  on  the  anxious  bench,  the  delegate, 
W.  W.  Kingsbury,  who  had  been  elected  on  Mr. 
Rice's  promotion  to  the  Senate,  had  been  comfort- 
ably occupying  his  seat  in  the  House.  When 
Messrs.  Phelps  and  Cavanaugh  were  sworn  in,  Mr. 
Kingsbury  did  not  vacate  his  seat,  but  claimed  the 
right  to  represent  that  part  of  the  Territory  of 
Minnesota  west  of  the  Red  River  line  excluded 
from  the  state.  The  Democratic  majority  of  the 
committee  on  elections  strongly  recommended  that 
the  claim  be  allowed,  the  Republicans  dissenting. 


TRANSITION  TO  STATEHOOD  155 

The  House  decided  that  the  portion  of  Minnesota 
excluded  from  the  state  was  a  district  without  gov- 
ernment, and  not  entitled  to  representation  in  Con- 
gress. The  admission  of  Minnesota  wrought  the 
dissolution  of  the  territory,  a  decision  exactly  in 
the  teeth  of  that  by  which  Mr.  Sibley  had  been 
recognized  as  a  delegate  from  the  rump  of  Wis- 
consin Territory  in  1848. 

So  soon  as  Governor  Medary  had  approved  the 
bill  for  the  election  of  senators  he  took  his  de- 
parture and  devolved  the  executive  upon  Charles 
L.  Chase,  the  secretary  of  the  territory.  Till  the 
middle  of  winter  the  legislative  bodies  of  1857-58 
were  so  uncertain  about  their  legal  status  that  they 
were  chary  of  multiplying  statutes.  Then  there  was 
a  change  of  opinion,  and  the  members  were  encour- 
aged to  believe  themselves  true  state  legislators. 
Their  confidence  so  stiffened  that  on  the  1st  of 
March  they  voted  to  submit  to  the  electors  an 
amendment  to  the  constitution  authorizing  the 
state  officers-elect  to  qualify  on  May  1,  whether 
Congress  should  have  admitted  the  state  or  not ; 
and  appointed  April  15  proximo  as  the  day  for  the 
election.  It  is  probably  true  that  railroad  interests 
had  to  do  with  this  change  of  heart.  As  already 
related,  the  four  companies  to  which  the  great  con- 
gressional land  grant  had  been  made  over  by  the 
previous  legislature  had  not  been  able  to  borrow  a 
dollar  by  hypothecation  of  their  inchoate  proper- 


156  MINNESOTA 

ties.  There  were  examples  of  state  assistance  in 
railroad  building  under  like  circumstances,  by  way 
of  lending  state  credit.  The  Minnesota  companies 
now  asked  the  legislature  £or  like  aid.  That  body 
was  willing  enough,  but  there  stood  in  the  consti- 
tution adojited,  but  yet  awaiting  approval  by  Con- 
gress, a  section  forbidding  in  terms  the  loan  of  the 
credit  of  the  state  in  aid  of  any  individual,  associa- 
tion, or  corporation.  But  the  constitution  was  still 
in  the  green  tree  ;  why  not  amend  it  for  so  worthy 
a  purpose  ?  Accordingly,  the  accommodating  houses 
presently  submitted  a  second  amendment  to  the 
electors,  to  be  voted  on  at  the  same  time  as  the 
former.  This  amendment  added  to  the  section  for- 
bidding the  loan  of  the  state's  credit  an  exception, 
allowing  such  loan  for  the  purpose  of  facilitating 
railroad  construction,  to  the  amount  of  five  million 
dollars.  Such  was  the  beginning  of  the  "  five  mil- 
lion loan  "  transaction,  which  was  not  closed  till 
near  the  end  of  the  century,  and  then  in  a  manner 
not  clearly  honorable  to  the  state.  The  two  amend- 
ments were  passed  upon  by  the  electors  on  the  day 
appointed  (April  15).  That  authorizing  the  state 
officers  elect  to  enter  upon  their  duties  on  ISIay  1 
received  an  "  imposing  majority,"  the  figures  of 
which  have  not  been  found.  The  officers  elect, 
however,  wisely  took  no  advantage  of  this  provi- 
sion, but  awaited  the  admission  of  the  state.  The 
"five  million  loan"  amendment  was  carried  by 
the  overwhelming  majority  of  25,023  to  6733.    It 


TRANSITION  TO  STATEHOOD  157 

was  only,  as  alleged,  a  "loan  of  credit."  In  no 
conceivable  event,  the  people  were  assured,  could 
they  be  taxed  to  pay  in  cash  the  debt  nominated 
in  the  bonds  to  be  issued. 

On  May  13  the  mail  or  a  private  hand  brought 
from  La  Crosse,  Wisconsin,  the  telegraphic  news 
of  the  admission  of  the  state  to  the  Union  on  the 
previous  day.  The  documentary  evidence  came 
some  days  later,  and  on  the  24th  the  state  officers 
elected  in  October,  1857,  took  their  oaths  and  pro- 
ceeded to  their  duties.  It  lacked  one  week  of  nine 
years  since  Governor  Ramsey  proclaimed  the  be- 
ginning of  the  territorial  government. 

Three  days  after  the  state  officers  took  up  their 
duties  there  took  place  within  an  easy  day  s  drive 
of  the  capital  the  last  serious  encounter  of  the 
Sioux  and  Chippeways  on  Minnesota  soil.  The 
lower  Sioux,  who  late  in  1853  reluctantly  retired 
to  their  reservations  on  the  upper  Minnesota,  were 
wont  to  return  in  summer  weather  in  straggling 
companies  to  their  old  homes.  They  were  generally 
harmless,  and  the  merchants  got  a  little  profit  on 
their  trade.  Shakopee  and  his  band  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  had  early  in  the  summer  of  1858  come 
down  and  gone  into  camp  near  the  town  which 
bears  his  name.  One  of  his  braves,  fishing  in  the 
river  (the  Minnesota)  at  an  early  hour,  was  fired 
upon.  Shakopee's  men  instantly  recognized  the 
sound  as  coming  from  a  Chippeway  gun.  They 
gathered  at  Murpliy's  Ferry  and,  presuming  that 


158  MINNESOTA 

the  hostile  shot  came  from  one  of  some  very  small 
party,  they  let  their  women  put  thirty  or  forty  of 
them  across.  They  did  not  suspect  that  back  on 
the  timbered  bluff  a  mile  distant  there  lay  in  hid- 
ing one  hundred  and  fifty  or  more  Chippeway 
warriors  who  had  sneaked  down  from  Mille  Lacs 
through  the  big  woods  east  of  Minnetonka.  They 
were  wary,  however,  and  placed  themselves  in 
ambush  in  a  narrow  space  between  two  lakelets. 
The  Chippeways,  out  for  scalps,  with  a  boldness 
unusual  among  Indians,  charged  down  from  the 
bluff  twice  or  more,  without  dislodging  the  Sioux. 
The  day  was  not  old  when  they  gave  up  the  effort 
and  departed  in  haste  for  their  homes,  carrying 
their  wounded  and  perhaps  some  dead.  Four  of 
their  corpses  were  left  to  the  cruel  mercies  of  the 
Sioux,  who  scalped,  beheaded,  and  otherwise  muti- 
lated them.  Such  was  the  so-called  "  Battle  of 
Shakopee,"  May  27,  1858. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  RAILROADS 

On  the  2d  of  June,  1858,  the  legislature,  which 
had  adjourned  March  25,  reassembled  and  listened 
to  Governor  Sibley's  inaugural  address.  He  chal- 
lenged investigation  into  the  legality  of  his  election, 
declaring  that  he  would  scorn  to  hold  the  position 
for  a  single  hour  if  not  legally  chosen.  He  com- 
mended the  schools  and  the  university  to  the 
special  care  of  the  legislature,  exhorting  them  to 
regard  the  donations  of  public  lands  to  them  as 
sacred.  He  advised  the  organization  of  the  militia 
to  the  end  that  the  state  might  protect  herself  from 
possible  Indian  outrages  like  that  of  Inkpaduta  the 
year  before.  Pie  warned  the  legislature  to  be  care- 
ful in  their  action  in  regard  to  banks,  which  he 
declared  to  be  a  "  necessary  evil."  He  deprecate4 
the  undue  extension  of  federal  interference  in  the 
affairs  of  the  states,  and,  as  might  be  expected  from 
a  friend  and  admirer  of  Mr.  Douglas,  pronounced 
in  favor  of  squatter  sovereignty  in  the  territories. 
He  took  occasion  to  record  his  objection  to  frequent 
and  trivial  amendments  to  the  state  constitution, 
which  should  "ever  remain  beyond  the  reach  of 
temporary  and  feverish  excitement."  In  no  doubt- 


160  MINNESOTA 

ful  terms  did  the  new  executive  give  notice  to  the 
land  grant  railroad  companies  that  he  should  hold 
them  to  a  strict  but  reasonable  conformity  with 
their  obligations.  In  this  adjourned  session  the 
legislative  bodies  had  no  doubt  about  their  true 
character  as  state  organs.  The  senate  had  its  con- 
stitutional president  in  the  lieutenant-governor, 
William  Holcombe,  and  there  was  a  state  governor 
to  approve  the  acts  of  the  houses.  In  the  session, 
which  lasted  till  August  12,  a  large  body  of  stat- 
utes were  enacted,  many  of  them  amendatory  of 
territorial  laws  to  suit  new  conditions.  This  legis- 
lature deserves  praise  for  its  diligence  and  appre- 
ciation of  the  needs  of  a  growing  state.  Responding 
to  the  counsel  of  Governor  Sibley,  an  elaborate 
militia  law  was  passed.  A  provision  for  the  organ- 
ization of  volunteer  companies  proved  three  years 
later  to  have  been  wisely  planned.  The  cautions  of 
the  executive  led  the  legislature  to  replace  a  bank- 
ing act  of  many  sections,  passed  by  the  same  body 
in  the  previous  March,  by  another  more  carefully 
drawn.  Educational  objects  were  not  neglected. 
An  agricultural  college  was  established  at  Glencoe, 
a  normal  school  at  Winona,  and  the  unlucky  board 
of  regents  of  the  university  were  authorized  to 
borrow  $40,000  on  twelve  per  cent,  bonds.  As  if 
distrusting  either  the  good  faith  or  the  ability  of 
the  four  land  grant  railroad  companies,  the  legis- 
lature placed  on  the  statute  book  a  stringent  act 
instructing  the  governor  how  to  proceed  in  case  of 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  RAILROADS         161 

default  by  any  of  them.  The  hopes  of  the  people 
of  Minnesota  in  this  summer  were  centred  on  these 
land  grant  railroads.  The  panic  of  the  previous 
year  had  impoverished  many  of  the  well-to-do,  and 
left  laborers  and  artisans  without  employment. 
Fortunately  there  was  no  lack  of  bread  and  meat 
at  low  prices,  because  they  could  not  be  got  to  out- 
side markets.  Money  was  scarce  and  "  business  " 
sluggish  in  the  extreme.  But  there  was  hope.  The 
building  of  the  railroads  would  scatter  large  sums 
of  money,  immigrants  would  flow  in,  and  the  good 
times  of  '56  would  return. 

The  act  of  the  Minnesota  legislature  of  May  22, 
1857,  accepting  the  congressional  land  grant  of 
March  5,  provided,  as  anticipated  by  Congress, 
for  the  distribution  of  the  lands  to  these  four  cor- 
porations :  — 

First,  the  Minnesota  and  Pacific  Railroad 
Company,  for  building  a  main  line  from  Still- 
water through  St.  Anthony  to  Breckenridge  and  a 
"  branch  "  from  St.  Anthony  to  St.  Vincent. 

Second,  the  Transit  Railroad  Company,  to  build 
from  Winona  by  way  of  St.  Peter  to  the  Big  Sioux 
River  north  of  45  degrees  north  latitude. 

Third,  the  Root  River  and  Southern  Minnesota 
Railroad  Company,  for  two  lines;  one  from  La 
Crescent  to  a  junction  with  the  Transit  at  Roches- 
ter ;  the  other  from  St.  Paul  and  St.  Anthony  via 
Minneapolis,  up  the  Minnesota  River,  to  Mankato 
and  on  to  the  mouth  of  the  Bifr  Sioux. 


162  MINNESOTA 

Fourth,  the  Minneapolis  and  Cedar  Valley  Rail- 
road Company,  for  a  line  from  Minneapolis  by  way 
of  Mendota  and  Faribault  to  a  point  on  the  south 
line  of  the  state,  west  of  range  13. 

The  lands  were  to  inure  to  the  companies  in 
installments  of  120  sections,  upon  the  completion 
of  twenty-mile  stretches  of  road  for  the  running  of 
regular  trains.  The  constitutional  amendment  of 
April  15,  1858,  had  for  a  particular  object  the  en- 
abling of  the  companies  to  get  each  its  first  twenty 
miles  built  and  receive  its  120  sections  (76,800 
acres).  The  sale  or  hypothecation  of  this  land 
would  build  an  additional  stretch,  and  so  on.  To 
make  it  the  easier  for  the  companies  so  to  build, 
the  amendment  provided  that  when  any  ten-mile 
stretch  should  have  been  graded  and  made  ready 
for  ties  and  track,  the  company  should  receive 
$100,000  in  the  seven  per  cent,  special  Minnesota 
state  railroad  bonds  authorized ;  and,  when  any  ten- 
mile  stretch  so  graded  should  be  complete  with 
rails  and  rolling  stock,  an  additional  like  sum  in 
bonds.  Now  these  bonds  were  by  no  means  a  bonus  ; 
they  were  to  be  a  "loan  of  credit,"  according  to 
the  favorite  phrase  of  the  day.  The  companies  on 
receiving  them  were  obligated  to  pay  the  interest 
as  it  should  accrue,  and  to  redeem  the  principal 
when  due.  The  most  rigorous  provisions  were  made 
in  the  amendment  itself  to  secure  these  liquidations. 
The  companies  were  required  to  pledge  the  net 
earnings  of  their  several  lines,  to  convey  to  the  state 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  RAILROADS         163 

by  deed  of  trust  the  first  240  acres  of  land  earned 
by  construction,  and  to  transfer  to  the  state  an 
amount  of  their  own  company  bonds  equal  to  that 
of  the  special  state  bonds  delivered.  These  com- 
pany bonds  were  to  be  secured  by  mortgages  on 
all  the  properties  and  franchises  of  the  companies. 
Human  ingenuity,  it  was  fancied,  could  exact  no 
sounder  guarantees.  While  the  legislature  was  still 
in  session  in  the  midsummer  of  1858,  the  companies 
let  their  contracts,  and  the  dirt  began  to  fly  in  a 
manner  very  cheering  to  citizens  living  along  the 
surveyed  lines,  who  boarded  the  hands  and  fur- 
nished forage,  timber,  and  other  supplies. 

But  there  was  trouble  with  the  finances  from 
the  start.  On  August  4  Governor  Sibley  gave 
warning  (why  should  it  have  been  needed?)  to  the 
companies  that  he  should  hold  them  to  a  strict 
compliance  with  the  obligations  they  had  assumed. 
In  particular  he  demanded  that  when  they  came  to 
exchange  their  company  bonds  for  the  special  state 
bonds  they  must  secure  to  the  state  a  prior  lien  on 
their  properties  and  franchises.  The  companies 
balked  at  this,  and  by  their  attorneys  applied  to 
the  supreme  court  of  the  state  for  a  mandamus 
requiring  the  governor  to  issue  them  bonds  without 
such  priority.  To  obtain  a  construction  of  the  law 
Governor  Sibley  waived  objection  to  being  governed 
by  the  court  in  a  matter  within  his  own  official 
discretion.  Tlie  mandamus  issued.  The  text  of  the 
amendment  of  April  15  showed  no  requirement  of 


164  MINNESOTA 

priority,  and  the  legislative  journals  show  that 
efforts  to  inject  such  requirement  had  been  vain. 
The  state  railroad  bonds,  issued  to  the  companies 
as  they  severally  completed  their  ten-mile  stretches 
of  grading,  when  placed  upon  the  market  did  not 
go  off  like  hot  cakes.  In  form  they  were  bonds  of 
Minnesota  acknowledging  to  owe  and  promising 
to  pay  dollars,  signed,  countersigned,  and  sealed 
like  other  bonds.  The  faith  and  credit  of  the  state 
were  pledged  in  the  constitutional  amendment  to 
the  payment  of  the  interest  and  redemption  of  the 
principal.  But  the  people  understood  that  all  this 
was  mere  form  ;  the  railroad  companies,  not  the 
state,  were  to  pay.  The  newspapers  industriously 
circulated  this  idea.  Sixty-seven  members  of  the 
legislature  who  had  voted  for  the  issue  of  the  bonds 
signed  a  published  declaration  that  none  of  them 
would  ever  vote  for  a  tax  to  pay  them.  When 
offered  in  the  New  York  market  they  were  not 
wanted,  unless  by  speculative  operators  at  a  fig- 
ure warranting  risk.  Governor  Sibley's  personal 
representations  in  Wall  Street  did  not  increase  con- 
fidence. He  attributed  his  failure  to  factious  inter- 
ference of  citizens  and  Republican  newspapers. 

Construction  was  resumed  with  the  season  of 
1859  by  contractors  willing  and  able  to  take  bonds 
in  pay,  but  by  midsummer  this  plan  ceased  to  work. 
One  firm  in  July  was  obliged  to  put  up  $30,000 
to  raise  88000  in  cash.  Railroad  building  ceased, 
and  Minnesota  sat  in  ashes.  The  surprise  and  ex- 


THE  STRUGGLE   FOR  RAILROADS         165 

asperation  of  the  people  can  easily  be  imagined. 
The  companies  had  not  followed  the  course  expected 
of  them  to  complete  and  put  in  operation  succes- 
sive ten-mile  stretches,  but  preferred  to  push  the 
grading  for  many  such  stretches  and  postpone 
track-laying  and  other  work  of  completion.  This 
aroused  a  suspicion  that  they  did  not  intend  to 
complete  any  sections,  but  to  secure  their  $10,000 
per  mile,  a  sum  far  in  excess  of  the  actual  cost, 
and  quit.  This  suspicion  was  intensified  by  rumors 
that  the  grading  had  been  confined  to  discontin- 
uous earthwork  alone,  on  the  level  prairie  where  it 
could  be  cheaply  done.  These  rumors  had  but  slight 
foundation,  but  they  were  accepted  as  true  and  to 
this  day  there  are  those  who  believe  them.  When 
the  legislature  of  1860  met  (there  was  no  session 
in  1859),  Governor  Sibley  in  his  retiring  mes- 
sage informed  that  body  that  the  four  companies 
had  graded  239.36  miles,  and  had  received  2275 
one  thousand-dollar  special  state  bonds  in  exchange 
for  an  equal  amount  of  company  bonds. 

The  legislature  of  1858  has  enough  to  answer  for 
in  proposing  to  the  people  the  consummate  folly 
of  offering  to  sell  bonds  which  they  never  meant  to 
pay.  Of  the  final  act  of  their  session  (August  12) 
it  cannot  be  charitably  recorded  that  it  was  one  of 
mere  folly.  As  the  end  of  their  labors  drew  nigh 
in  the  dog  days,  it  became  known  that  there  would 
be  a  residue  of  some  '^10,000  of  money  appropriated 
by  Congress  for  territorial  expenses.  It  seemed  a 


166  MINNESOTA 

pity  not  to  keep  that  money  in  Minnesota.  After 
a  variety  of  proposals  consuming  much  time  had 
failed  to  receive  concurrence,  the  two  houses  agreed 
to  a  compromise  by  which  86000  was  appropriated 
for  stationery  and  'f  3500  for  postage,  the  members 
to  share  equally.  Governor  Sibley  was  obliged  to 
give  his  official  sanction  to  this  division,  because 
it  was  impossible  in  the  last  hour  of  the  session 
to  veto  the  general  appropriation  bill  in  which 
these  items  had  place,  but  he  took  occasion  to  say 
that  he  gave  a  most  reluctant  consent  to  the  grab. 
The  banking  act  passed  by  the  legislature  of 
1858,  on  July  26,  provided  for  the  issue  of  circu- 
lating notes  secured  by  deposits  of  public  stocks  of 
the  United  States,  or  of  any  state,  up  to  ninety  per 
cent,  of  the  average  value  of  such  stock  for  six 
months  in  the  New  York  market.  On  one  of  the 
last  days  of  the  session  an  amending  act  was  passed 
injecting  into  the  proper  section  of  the  bank  act 
the  words  "  or  the  State  of  Minnesota  at  their  cur- 
rent value."  The  intended  operation  of  the  clause 
was  that  bank-notes  might  be  issued  on  the  security 
of  the  special  railroad  bonds.  To  obtain  a  favorable 
rating  by  the  state  auditor  a  clique  of  operators 
traded  among  themselves  in  the  bonds,  in  New  York 
city,  until  they  felt  warranted  in  submitting  affida- 
vits that  their  value  as  ascertained  in  that  market 
was  ninety-five  cents  on  the  dollar.  The  auditor  of 
the  state  thereupon  issued  some  #600,000  in  notes 
to  fifteen  banks  depositing   the    special    railroad 


THE  STRUGGLE   FOR  RAILROADS         167 

bonds.  On  January  1,  1861,  be  was  obliged  to 
report  that  seven  of  them  had  failed,  and  that  he 
had  sold  their  bonds.  In  one  ease  he  got  seventy 
cents ;  in  six  others,  prices  ranging  from  thirty- 
five  cents  down  to  sixteen  and  a  quarter  cents. 

The  Sioux  chiefs  were  so  much  excited  with  the 
money  elements  of  their  treaties  of  1851  that  they 
probably  did  not  know  what  they  were  about  when, 
in  the  summer  of  1852,  they  assented  to  that  amend- 
ment proposed  by  the  Senate  canceling  the  reserva- 
tion of  homes  for  the  tribes  on  the  upper  Minnesota 
and  authorizing  the  President  to  remove  them  from 
the  ceded  territory.  It  was,  however,  deemed  best 
to  move  the  people  on  to  the  designated  areas,  and 
they  were  so  moved  in  the  season  of  1853.  It  soon 
came  to  their  knowledge  that  they  were  only  tem- 
porarily encamped  there,  and  must  presently  move 
on  to  some  unknown  country.  Their  sorrow  and 
exasperation  were  intense,  and  did  not  abate  until 
they  were  assured  in  the  following  summer  that  the 
Great  Father,  as  authorized  by  Congress,  would 
permit  them  to  remain  where  they  were.  They  did 
remain  in  the  sense  of  maintaining  their  principal 
villages  on  the  reserve,  but  they  constantly  wan- 
dered in  bands  either  toward  their  old  homes  or 
out  on  the  prairies  to  the  west,  where  buffalo  still 
fed  in  countless  herds.  Their  agents  were  much 
occupied  in  recalling  these  vagrants  and  in  chasing 
the  white  whiskey  sellers  who  infested  the  bounda- 


168  MINNESOTA 

ries  of  the  reserve.  In  1857  Joseph  R.  Brown,  that 
notable  character  whose  career  intersects  the  line 
of  our  narrative  at  many  points,  was  appointed 
Sioux  agent.  As  he  was  the  father  of  many  chil- 
dren born  of  his  Sisseton  wife,  and  had  lived  and 
traded  among  the  Sioux  for  many  years,  he  pos- 
sessed an  influence  and  a  knowledge  of  Indian 
character  equaled  by  few.  He  had  no  belief  that 
the  Indian  could  be  transformed  by  religion  or 
education  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  into  a  fully 
civilized  man,  but  he  knew  that  he  could  be  induced 
to  take  on  the  beginnings  of  civilization.  His  sim- 
ple plan  was  to  get  the  savages  to  live  in  houses, 
adopt  white  man's  dress,  and  do  a  little  planting. 
In  two  years  he  had  two  hundred  men,  mostly  heads 
of  families,  located  on  eighty-acre  farms.  They  had 
disused  the  blanket,  put  on  white  man's  clothes, 
and,  most  notable  of  all,  had  had  their  hair  cut  short. 
His  "  farmer  Indians  "  numbered  seven  hundred. 
This  was  not  a  large  proportion  of  the  seven  thou- 
sand "  annuity  Sioux,"  but  the  northern  superin- 
tendent of  Indian  affairs  prophesied  that  in  three 
years  the  "  farmer  Indians  "  would  outnumber  the 
"  blanket  Indians."  The  farmers,  he  reported,  had 
given  up  their  feasts  and  dances  and  were  living  as 
a  "  law-abiding,  quiet,  and  sober  people."  In  this 
reform  Agent  Brown  was  assisted  by  the  mission- 
aries, under  the  leadership  of  Drs.  Williamson  and 
Riggs,  who  had  followed  the  Sioux  to  their  reserva- 
tions. The  former  had  organized  a  society  of  ambi- 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  RAILROADS         169 

tious  young  Sioux,  under  the  title  of  the  "  Hazlewood 
republic,"  the  object  of  which  was  to  encourage 
respect  for  law  and  to  teach  the  art  of  government. 
On  the  accession  of  the  Kepublicans  to  power  at 
the  seat  of  government  in  18G1,  Agent  Brown's 
place  was  needed  to  reward  a  laborer  in  the  Repub- 
lican vineyard,  utterly  inexperienced  in  the  duties. 
It  is  perfectly  safe  to  say  that  had  Brown  been  left 
alone  there  would  have  been  no  "  Sioux  outbreak." 
When  the  treaties  of  cession  were  negotiated  in 
1851,  the  proposed  reservations  seemed  very  far 
away  and  very  ample.  The  Sioux  had  hardly  got 
settled  before  the  white  man  appeared  with  his 
whiskey  jug  and  began  taking  up  preemptions  on 
the  neighboring  lands.  It  did  not  take  these  adven- 
turers long  to  discover  that  the  Indians  had  more 
land  than  they  needed.  Moved  by  their  representa- 
tions the  Minnesota  legislature  of  1858  adopted  a 
joint  resolution  instructing  her  delegation  in  Con- 
gress to  secure  the  reduction  of  the  reservation  and 
the  opening  of  the  excluded  areas  to  settlement.  In 
the  summer  of  that  year  delegations  of  chiefs  of  the 
upper  and  lower  tribes  were  taken  to  Washington, 
where  they  were  induced  to  consent,  in  separate 
treaties,  to  the  sale  to  the  government  of  all  their 
lands  (some  eight  hundred  thousand  acres)  on  the 
left  (northeast^  side  of  the  Minnesota  River. 

At  the  close  of  the  state  campaign  of  1859  Alex- 
ander Ramsey  came  to  his  own.   He  was  elected 


170  MINNESOTA 

governor  by  a  majority  which  no  one  could  ques- 
tion. At  the  same  time  the  office  of  lieutenant- 
governor  fell  to  Ignatius  Donnelly,  who  for  forty 
years  was  to  be  a  conspicuous  figure  in  Minnesota 
politics.  This  young  gentleman  had  come  to  Min- 
nesota from  his  home  in  Philadelphia  in  185G,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-four.  He  had  won  no  little  ap- 
plause in  his  native  city  by  some  public  addresses, 
a  volume  of  juvenile  poems  not  without  promise, 
and  a  number  of  published  essays.  Breaking  out 
of  the  Democratic  fold  along  with  very  many 
young  men  of  the  day,  he  threw  himself  heart  and 
soul  into  the  Republican  cause.  There  was  no  man 
of  his  time,  certainly  not  in  Minnesota,  who  could 
more  completely  enchain  an  audience  of  citizens 
than  Ignatius  Donnelly.  A  speech  in  the  Republi- 
can convention  of  1859  won  him  an  unexpected 
nomination,  and  his  election  followed.  The  inau- 
gural message  of  Governor  Ramsey  to  the  Republi- 
can legislature  which  came  in  with  him  is  a  notable 
document.  The  persistence  of  hai'd  times  moved 
him  to  cut  his  own  salary  from  '$2500  to  $1500  and 
to  recommend  corresponding  reductions  in  those 
of  state  officials.  By  these  and  other  retrenchments 
adopted  by  the  legislature,  the  expenses  of  the  state 
government  were  reduced  by  49.3  per  cent.  Re- 
minding the  houses  of  the  fact  that  the  general 
government  had  already  bestowed  twelve  millions 
of  acres  of  public  land  and  more  (an  area  equal  to 
that  of  Holland  or  Belgium),  he  exhorted  them  to 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  RAILROADS         171 

the  greatest  diligence  and  fidelity  in  execution  of 
their  trust.  In  particular  he  urged  that  the  school 
lands  be  safeguarded  against  premature  sale,  and 
that  all  purchase-money  coming  in  from  these 
should  be  paid  into  the  state  treasury  to  form  a 
perpetual  endowment.  While  his  particular  scheme 
was  not  adopted  in  detail,  his  principle  was.  A  sur- 
viving contemporary  opposed  to  him  in  politics  has 
declared  that  had  not  Governor  Ramsey  stood  like 
a  rock  against  multifarious  schemes  for  dissipating 
the  school  lands,  Minnesota  would  not  have  a  dol- 
lar of  school  fund  to-day.  That  fund  now  amounts 
to  nearly  -120,000,000  and  will  be  greatly  increased 
in  the  future.  For  this  great  service  the  name  of 
Alexander  Ramsey  should  be  remembered  in  Min- 
nesota as  long  as  the  state  survives. 

The  incoming  legislature  had  for  its  most  excit- 
ing duty  that  of  electing  a  United  States  senator 
in  the  room  of  General  James  Shields,  who  had 
two  years  before  drawn  the  short  term.  The  choice 
fell  on  Morton  S.  Wilkinson  of  Stillwater,  the 
pioneer  attorney  of  that  place.  He  had  cooperated 
in  organizing  Republicanism  in  the  territory  and 
had  attracted  the  attention  of  leaders  outside, 
among  them  Seward  and  Lincoln. 

This  election  disposed  of,  the  houses  addressed 
themselves  to  railroad  matters.  The  state  had 
turned  out  12,275,000  of  her  "  special "  bonds,  and 
had  for  them  not  a  mile  of  railroad,  but  only  some 


172  MINNESOTA 

two  hundred  and  forty  miles  of  rather  slovenly 
graded  road-bed.  Governor  Ramsey,  with  the 
strong  common  sense  which  never  failed  him,  urged 
the  legislature  to  settle  the  business  at  once. 
Though  he  had  a  favorite  plan,  his  concern  was 
not  for  his  own  plan,  but  for  any  kind  of  a  settle- 
ment. He  warned  the  legislature  that  if  the  vexed 
question  were  not  settled  it  would  confuse  politics 
and  invite  corruption.  The  bonds  would  be  bought 
up  for  a  song  by  speculators  who  would  subsidize 
newspapers,  shout  repudiation,  and  pound  on  the 
doors  of  the  legislature  till  that  1body  would  be 
forced  by  their  sheer  importunity  to  satisfy  them. 
But  that  legislature  had  come  from  an  exasperated 
people  who  believed  in  their  hearts  that  the  rail- 
road companies,  and  politicians  in  league  with 
them,  had  deceived  and  cheated  them.  They  had 
never  promised,  in  fact,  to  pay  those  bonds,  and 
the  takers  of  them  knew  that,  and  were  estopped 
from  demanding  redemption  out  of  the  pockets  of 
the  people.  The  houses  appointed  a  joint  commit- 
tee of  sixteen  on  railroad  grants  and  bonds.  Six 
different  reports  came  in  from  detachments  of  this 
committee.  One  member.  Senator  Mackubin  of  St. 
Paul,  alone  proposed  the  full  payment  of  the  bonds. 
The  legislative  bodies  were  as  much  divided  as 
were  their  committeemen.  All  they  could  agree  to 
after  days  of  discussion  was  to  hang  the  whole  pro- 
ceeding up  by  means  of  two  constitutional  amend- 
ments to  be  submitted  to   the   electors.  One   of 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  RAILROADS    173 

these  was  to  expunge  from  the  state  constitution 
the  amendment  of  April  15,  1858,  authorizing  the 
"five  million  loan";  the  other,  providing  for  a 
referendum  to  the  electors  of  any  law  for  paying 
off  the  outstanding  special  railroad  bonds.  The 
vote  on  the  expunging  amendment,  on  Novem- 
ber 6,  1860,  was :  Yes,  19,308 ;  no,  710.  The  vote 
on  the  other  amendment  differed  but  little.  The 
ostrich  had  buried  his  head  and  eyes  in  the  sand. 
The  land  grant  companies  having  completely  de- 
faulted in  all  their  engagements,  there  remained 
for  the  governor  to  proceed  as  required  by  law  to 
recover  to  the  state  the  public  lands  conditionally 
made  over  to  them.  Foreclosure  proceedings  cul- 
minated in  the  sale  to  the  state  of  all  the  franchises, 
rights  of  way,  property,  and  privileges  of  each  com- 
pany for  the  sum  of  one  thousand  dollars.  As  the 
electors  had  by  a  constitutional  amendment  de- 
clared that  the  special  railroad  bonds  were  no 
obligations  of  the  state,  she  was  apparently  the 
gainer  by  the  rights  of  way  and  the  grading  done 
by  the  companies,  but  in  fact  the  state  was  never 
more  than  a  trustee  of  the  lands.  The  loss  of  their 
properties  did  not,  of  course,  work  a  dissolution  of 
the  railroad  charters,  and  the  companies,  or  their 
ghosts,  still  existed.  When  the  legislature  of  1861 
was  in  session  they  had  sufficient  influence  to  per- 
suade that  body  to  give  them  another  lease  of  life. 
They  had  gone  down  in  the  common  ruin  after 
brave  efforts  to  execute  their  contracts.  By  sepa- 


174  MINNESOTA 

rate  acts  passed  March  4,  the  state  released  and 
restored  to  the  four  companies  severally  all  their 
forfeited  properties  and  assets,  free  from  all  claims 
and  liens  by  the  state,  —  this  on  certain  conditions 
which  did  not  seem  hard.  Each  company  was  obli- 
gated to  deposit  a  guarantee  fund  of  ten  thousand 
dollars,  to  begin  building  immediately,  and  to  have 
ten  miles  of  road  in  full  operation  by  the  end  of  the 
calendar  year,  and  certain  stipulated  mileages  in 
years  following.  In  these  Kalends  of  March  there  was 
no  expectation  that  before  the  grass  should  be  green 
on  the  Minnesota  prairies  a  war  cloud  would  have 
settled  over  them.  It  was  no  time  to  build  railroads 
on  borrowed  money.  One  of  the  companies,  the 
Minnesota  and  Pacific  (germ  of  the  Great  North- 
ern Kailway),  made  its  cash  deposit  and  began 
work.  Late  in  the  season  it  ran  the  single  locomo- 
tive, the  William  Crooks,  which  it  had  purchased, 
over  the  fourteen  hundred  feet  of  track  laid  from 
the  St.  Paul  levee  to  a  storage  shed.  Its  ten  thou- 
sand dollars  were  forfeit.  All  the  companies  having 
defaulted,  the  lands,  rights  of  way,  and  properties 
reverted  to  the  state. 

The  desire  of  the  people  for  railroads  did  not 
and  could  not  abate,  and  there  were  still  adven- 
turous persons  willing  to  risk  money  for  the  great 
prizes  lying  in  the  land  grants.  In  the  winter  of 
1862  four  new  companies  were  organized,  and  to 
them  the  legislature  turned  over  the  grants  and 
rights  of  way  on  liberal  conditions.    The  St.  Paul 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  RAILROADS         175 

and  Pacific  Company  succeeding  to  the  Minnesota 
and  Pacific,  built  from  St.  Paul  to  St.  Anthony, 
and  on  October  14  advertised  for  regular  business. 
In  1863  two  companies  built  forty-six  and  one  half 
miles,  and  in  1864  three  built  forty-three  and  one 
half  miles.  Meantime  the  special  railroad  bonds 
remained  in  the  limbo  to  which  the  constitutional 
amendments  of  1860  had  relegated  them. 

Other  acts  of  the  legislature  of  1860  of  less  im- 
portance, but  still  notable,  were  :  One  changing 
the  existing  system  of  county  government  by 
boards  of  supervisors,  elected  from  the  towns,  to 
one  of  county  commissioners,  to  be  elected  from 
districts;  another  providing  for  the  registration 
of  voters  in  all  precincts ;  a  third  replacing  the 
elective  board  of  twelve  regents  created  by  terri- 
torial law  with  one  of  five  to  be  appointed  by  the 
governor  and  confirmed  by  the  senate.  The  new 
board  succeeded  to  a  melancholy  task. 

The  people  of  Minnesota  had  moderated  their 
expectations  of  an  abounding  population,  but  they 
were  still  greatly  disappointed  wlien  the  census  of 
1860  footed  up  but  170,023  inhal)itants,  including 
2369  Indians.  The  native  born  were  113,295,  the 
foreign  born  68,278.  The  great  Scandinavian  in- 
flux had  hardly  l)egun.  Of  the  whole  number  of 
persons  engaged  in  gainful  occupations,  53,426,  the 
farmers  were  27,921,  dwelling  mostly  in  the  river 
counties  and  those  immediately  in  the  rear.   With 


176  MINNESOTA 

her  population  so  widely  spread  out  on  the  land 
and  that  in  its  virgin  fertility,  Minnesota  was  not 
really  poor,  in  spite  of  business  stagnation,  of  a  high 
interest  i-ate  (two  per  cent  a  month),  and  of  iso- 
lation from  outside  markets  for  half  the  year.  This 
isolation  was,  however,  mitigated  by  the  comple- 
tion of  a  line  of  telegraph  to  the  cities  at  the  head 
of  navigation,  so  that  "  through  "  dispatches  were 
regularly  received  in  October,  1862.  The  office  in 
St.  Anthony  was  closed  after  a  few  months,  and 
the  business  men  of  Minneapolis  were  obliged  to 
subsidize  that  of  their  city. 

The  conflict  in  national  politics  in  1860  was  a 
hot  and  lively  one,  not  merely  between  the  two 
great  parties,  but  within  the  separate  ranks.  The 
Democrats  had  not  been  so  long  out  of  power  as 
to  despair  of  a  return.  The  Republicans  had  just 
begun  to  taste  the  sweets  of  office  and  its  emolu- 
ments, and  were  fierce  for  more.  The  aspirants 
were  inconveniently  numerous  and  eager.  In  the 
caucuses  and  conventions  they  competed  with  al- 
most brutal  ardor  for  nominations,  equivalent,  in 
their  happy  anticipations,  to  elections.  No  sooner 
had  the  October  elections  resulted  in  a  Republican 
triumph  than  aspirants  for  federal  employment 
began  weaving  the  combinations  which  should  cap- 
ture the  Minnesota  appointments.  The  friends  of 
Governor  Ramsey  formed  into  one  camp ;  the 
"land  office  clique  "  into  another.  The  latter  gained 
a  temporary  advantage,  but  did  not  succeed  in  their 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  RAILROADS         177 

ultimate  purpose  of  placing  one  of  their  number  in 
the  United  States  Senate  when  the  next  vacancy 
occurred.  They  also  failed  to  get  Governor  Kam- 
sey,  his  own  logical  successor,  out  of  the  way  by  a 
promotion  to  the  headship  of  the  Interior  Depart- 
ment. 

The  Minnesota  Democracy  had  been  steadfast 
adherents  to  Senator  Douglas,  who  had  earned 
their  support.  The  delegation  to  the  Charleston 
convention  of  1860,  though  not  instructed,  was 
presumed  to  be  solid  for  the  Illinois  statesman. 
When  Senator  Rice  and  another  separated  and 
stood  by  Breckinridge,  there  were  accusations  of 
treason,  bribery,  and  all  the  crimes  in  the  political 
calendar.  It  ought  to  have  been  foreseen  that  Mr. 
Rice  by  temperament  and  interest  would  be  at- 
tached to  the  conservative  wing  of  the  Democracy. 

As  the  time  for  the  state  election  of  1861  drew 
on,  it  was  so  apparent  that  Messrs.  Ramsey  and 
Donnelly  would  succeed  themselves  as  governor 
and  lieutenant-governor  that  only  the  slightest  ac- 
tivity was  manifested  in  the  campaign.  The  total 
vote  for  governor  on  October  8  was  8048,  of  which 
Ramsey  received  6997. 


CHAPTER  X 

ARMING   FOR   THE   CIVIL   WAR 

Governor  Alexander  Ramsey  was  in  Washing- 
ton on  April  14,  1861,  the  day  the  Confederate 
colors  were  flown  over  the  ruins  of  Fort  Sumter  in 
Charleston  harbor.  The  attack  on  that  work  was 
an  avowed  act  of  war.  Early  that  Sunday  morn- 
ing he  hastened  to  the  War  Department  to  make 
a  tender  of  one  thousand  Minnesota  men  for  the 
national  cause.  The  offer  was  put  in  writing  at 
the  request  of  Secretary  Cameron,  who  was  on  the 
point  of  waiting  on  the  President.  Minnesota's  ten- 
der of  a  regiment  was  doubtless  the  first  recorded. 
It  was  so  promptly  accepted  that  on  the  next  day 
Governor  Ramsey  could  so  telegraph  to  St.  Paul. 
On  the  16th  Lieutenant-Governor  Donnelly  issued 
the  executive  proclamation  calling  for  volunteers 
to  form  a  regiment  of  infantry  to  serve  for  three 
months.  The  principal  effect  of  Governor  Sibley's 
ambitious  militia  organization  already  mentioned 
had  been  to  stimulate  the  organization  of  inde- 
pendent volunteer  companies  in  the  larger  towns 
and  cities.  These  companies  were  the  convenient 
nuclei  of  those  which  filled  up  the  regiment.  The 
arms  of  those  independent  companies  were  some- 


AKMING  FOR  THE  CIVIL  WAR  179 

■what  irregularly  appropriated.  Thirteen  days  after 
the  proclamation,  on  April  29,  ten  companies  nearly 
full  were  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  United 
States  at  Fort  Snelling.  Governor  Ramsey,  who 
was  present  at  the  muster,  announced  his  appoint- 
ments of  field  officers.  Willis  A.  Gorman,  former 
territorial  governor,  a  regimental  officer  in  the 
Mexican  AVar,  he  placed  in  command.  The  vigor 
with  which  this  experienced  colonel  established  and 
enforced  military  routine  was  a  surprise  to  his  raw 
soldiery.  They  learned  later  the  value  of  his  (lis- 
cipline,  which  at  the  first  they  were  disposed  to  be 
restive  under.  Early  in  May  the  state  furnished 
black  felt  hats  and  black  trousers.  These,  with  the 
red  shirts  previously  supplied,  constituted  their 
uniform.  Drilling  went  vigorously  on,  diversified 
with  sword  and  flag  presentations  and  some  feast- 
ing: in  the  neig^hborino'  cities. 

Some  days  after  the  muster,  the  War  Depart- 
ment decided  to  accept  no  more  regiments  for  three 
months,  and  gave  to  the  men  of  the  First  Minne- 
sota the  option  of  enlisting  for  three  years  or  taking 
their  discharges.  A  considerable  number,  many  of 
whom  had  been  more  patriotic  than  judicious,  chose 
the  latter  alternative,  but  their  places  were  inmie- 
diately  supplied,  and  a  full  regiment  was  mus- 
tered in  for  three  years. 

In  the  early  morning  of  June  22  the  regiment 
was  paraded  for  the  last  time  at  Fort  Snelling. 
Ciiaplain  Edward  D.  Neill  offered  prayer,  made  an 


180  MINNESOTA 

address,  and  gave  the  Hebrew  benediction,  "The 
Lord  bless  you  and  keep  you,"  etc.  This  over,  the 
command  embarked  for  Prairie  du  Chien,  whence 
it  proceeded  by  rail  to  Washington.  On  July  3  it 
was  put  into  camp  near  Alexandria  and  attached 
to  Franklin's  brigade  of  Heintzelman's  division  of 
McDowell's  army.  At  the  battle  of  Bull  Run  the 
First  Minnesota  was  sent  forward  alone  in  support 
of  llickett's  battery  to  attack  the  position  held  by 
Jackson's  brigade  without  a  single  skirmisher  in 
advance.  The  battery  had  barely  unlimbered  when 
all  its  horses  were  killed  and  cannoneers  dis- 
persed. The  First  Minnesota  held  its  ground  until 
forty-two  men  were  killed  and  one  hundred  and 
eight  wounded,  the  heaviest  loss  suffered  by  any 
regiment  on  the  Union  side.  Thirty  were  miss- 
ing, mostly  prisoners,  among  whom  were  Surgeon 
Stewart  and  his  assistant,  Le  Boutillier,  who  re- 
mained on  the  field  attending  the  wounded.  The 
regiment  did  not  leave  the  field  till  ordered  off,  and 
marched  "  in  perfect  order  "  to  Centreville.  From 
that  point  to  Alexandria  its  ranks  were  broken  by 
the  rabble  of  men  and  vehicles  which  thronged  the 
road.  In  a  compendious  work  it  is  impossible  to 
follow  in  detail  the  career  of  this  splendid  regi- 
ment and  those  later  sent  out  from  Minnesota.  It 
shared  honorably  in  the  operations  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  in  the  season  of  1862.  At  Antietam, 
holding  its  ground  after  both  flanks  had  been  un- 
covered, the  First  lost  one  hundred  and  forty-seven 


ARMING   FOR  THE   CIVIL   WAR  181 

in  killed  and  wounded.  The  company  of  Minnesota 
sharpshooters  (the  Second),  added  to  the  regiment 
after  the  battle  of  Fair  Oaks,  had  twenty  out  of 
its  forty-two  men  present  shot  down  in  that  action. 

After  the  organization  of  the  First  Regiment  out 
of  existing  state  militia,  other  militia  companies 
remained  over,  equally  desirous  for  a  part  in  the 
war  for  the  Union.  When  Governor  Ramsey  called 
for  a  second  regiment  on  the  14th  of  June,  1861, 
the  response  was  immediate.  Before  the  end  of 
July  the  Second  Minnesota  Infantry  had  been  mus- 
tered in  at  Fort  Snelling,  uniformed  and  supplied. 
It  received  as  commander  Colonel  Horatio  P.  Van 
Cleve,  a  graduate  of  the  United  States  Military 
Academy,  who  had  resigned  from  the  regular  army 
after  some  years  of  service.  On  October  14  the 
regiment  left  Fort  Snelling,  without  patriotic  ex- 
ercises, for  Louisville,  Kentucky,  where  it  joined 
Buell's  army.  At  Mill  Springs  it  behaved  with 
coolness  and  gallantry,  suffering  a  loss  of  twelve 
killed  and  thirty-three  wounded.  The  whole  re- 
maining season  of  1862  was  occupied  with  labo- 
rious marches  between  the  Ohio  and  Tennessee 
rivers,  with  occasional  minor  engagements.  It  was 
present  at  Shiloh,  Corinth,  and  Perrysville,  where 
its  losses  were  nominal. 

The  Third  Minnesota  Infantry  was  called  for 
on  September  18,  before  the  Second  had  gone  to 
the  front.  The  companies  were  promptly  recruited 
by  aspirants  to  commissions,  and  the  organization 


182  MINNESOTA 

was  complete  by  the  middle  of  November.  For  its 
colonel  Governor  Ramsey  selected  Heury  A.  Lester 
of  Winona,  who  had  made  a  creditable  record  as  a 
captain  in  the  First  Regiment.  In  a  few  months  he 
brought  the  command  to  a  high  state  of  discipline, 
and  by  his  personal  qualities  gained  the  complete 
confidence  of  officers  and  men.  In  April,  1862, 
the  regiment  was  sent  to  Murf  reesboro',  Tennessee, 
a  point  of  some  strategic  importance,  thirty  miles 
southeast  of  Nashville,  and  was  there  in  July  when 
the  Confederate  cavalry  leader  Forrest  was  raiding 
thereabout  to  delay  the  movements  of  Buell.  The 
covering  force  was  a  small  brigade  in  two  separate 
encampments.  A  Michigan  infantry  battalion  of 
five  companies  and  two  cavalry  troops  were  sta- 
tioned to  the  east  of  the  town,  the  Third  Minne- 
sota about  a  mile  and  a  half  northwest  on  the 
Nashville  pike.  No  intrenchments  seem  to  have 
been  constructed.  At  an  early  hour  of  July  13 
Forrest's  advance  brushed  away  the  cavalry  out- 
posts, captured  the  brigade  commander  in  his 
quarters  in  the  village,  and  fiercely  attacked  the 
Michigan  men.  It  was  not  till  noon,  however,  that 
he  was  able  with  his  main  force  of  more  than  one 
thousand  men  to  compel  their  surrender.  At  the 
sound  of  the  firing,  Colonel  Lester  got  his  com- 
mand under  arms  and  placed  them  in  a  good  posi- 
tion for  defense  not  far  from  his  camp,  and  there 
he  held  his  men  while  the  forenoon  wore  away 
with  the  sound  of  battle  in  his  ears  and  the  smoke 


ARMING  FOR  THE  CIVIL  WAR  183 

rising  from  the  burning  warehouses  in  the  town. 
The  barest  show  of  attack  was  made  on  his  front, 
but  Forrest  in  person  led  a  considerable  party 
around  his  flank  to  attack  his  camp,  defended  by 
Corporal  Charles  H.  Green  with  twenty  teamsters, 
convalescents,  and  cooks.  It  took  three  charges, 
Forrest  leading  the  last,  to  rout  and  capture  the 
little  band.  The  gallant  corporal  died  the  same 
day,  of  his  wounds.  Soon  after  one  o'clock  P.  M. 
the  adjutant  of  the  Michigan  battalion  came  out 
from  the  town  under  flag  of  truce  and  safeguard 
to  summon  Colonel  Lester  to  the  presence  of  his 
colonel.  In  the  interview  which  succeeded,  the  sur- 
render of  the  Minnesota  regiment  was  recommended. 
Returning  to  his  command,  Lester  summoned  his 
officers  to  a  council.  On  an  open  vote  the  majority 
was  for  fighting.  Two  company  commanders  then 
left  the  council.  The  colonel,  not  content  with  the 
open  vote,  proposed  a  ballot.  The  result  was  five 
to  surrender,  three  to  fight.  In  the  minority  were 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Griggs  and  Captain  C.  C.  An- 
drews, both  of  whom  became  regimental  command- 
ers. It  may  be  said  in  mitigation  of  the  action  of 
some  of  the  company  commanders  voting  for  sur- 
render, that  as  they  held  their  offices  by  election 
they  felt  bound  to  act  in  a  representative  capacity 
and  not  according  to  their  own  judgment.  The 
end  of  it  was  the  unconditional  surrender  of  the 
Third  Minnesota  without  having  been  seriously 
attacked.    The  enlisted  men  were  paroled  and  sent 


184  MINNESOTA 

to  Benton  Barracks,  St.  Louis.  The  officers  were 
paroled  at  Kichmond  after  three  months.  On 
December  1  President  Lincoln  discharged  dishon- 
orably all  those  who  had  voted  for  the  surrender. 

The  Fourth  Minnesota  regiment  was  called  at 
the  same  time  as  the  Third,  but  for  service  on  the 
Indian  frontier.  The  muster  began  October  2,  and 
was  complete  before  the  close  of  the  year.  For 
colonel  Governor  Ramsey  chose  John  A.  Sanborn, 
his  adjutant-general,  as  yet  inexperienced  in  war- 
fare, but  his  appointment  was  later  abundantly  jus- 
tified. Two  companies  were  sent  to  Fort  Ridgely 
and  two  to  Abercrombie  to  overawe  the  restive 
Sioux.  A  fifth  company  went  to  Fort  Eipley 
to  insure  the  good  behavior  of  the  Chippeways. 
The  remaining  five  companies  spent  the  winter  of 
1862  at  Fort  Snelling,  where  they  were  thoroughly 
instructed.  On  April  20,  1862,  the  Fourth  Regi- 
ment, its  absent  companies  having  been  recalled  to 
Fort  Snelling,  embarked  for  the  South.  It  reached 
Halleck's  army  in  May  in  front  of  Corinth,  Missis- 
sippi, in  time  to  partake  in  the  siege  which  the 
enemy  terminated  by  a  timely  evacuation.  After 
some  months  of  inaction,  during  which  one  third 
of  its  men  got  into  the  hospital,  the  regiment  par- 
ticipated gallantly  in  the  affair  at  luka  on  Septem- 
ber 18,  losing  three  killed  and  forty-four  wounded. 
At  the  battle  of  Corinth,  October  3  and  4,  the 
Fourth  was  actively  engaged,  with  the  surprisingly 
small  loss  of  two  killed  and  ten  wounded. 


ARMING  FOR  THE  CIVIL  WAR  186 

The  muster  of  the  Fifth  Minnesota  began  De- 
cember 19,  1861,  and  was  completed  on  the  29th 
of  March  following.  Three  companies  were  sent  to 
the  frontier  forts  to  relieve  companies  of  the 
Fourth  called  in.  To  encourage  recruiting  Gov- 
ernor Ramsey  proposed  to  appoint  to  the  field  and 
staff  positions  such  gentlemen  as  the  line  officers 
should  nominate  to  him.  For  colonel  their  choice 
fell  on  a  gentleman,  German  born,  who  had  seen 
service  in  the  Prussian  army.  The  experience  of  a 
few  months  proved  to  him  and  his  friends  that  a 
mistake  had  been  made.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Lu- 
cius F.  Hubbard,  afterwards  governor  of  Minne- 
sota, succeeded  and  held  command  until  assigned 
to  a  brigade.  Leaving  behind  the  three  companies 
on  duty  in  the  frontier  forts,  the  regiment  went 
south  in  May,  1862,  in  time  to  participate  in  the 
operations  which  resulted  in  the  occupation  of 
Corinth,  Mississippi.  The  summer  was  passed  in 
quiet,  diversified  by  the  affairs  at  Farmington  and 
luka.  When  Price  and  Van  Dorn  undertook,  on 
October  3,  to  dislodge  Rosecrans  from  his  in- 
trenched position  at  Corinth,  it  fell  to  the  Fifth 
Minnesota  to  take  a  most  honorable  part  in  their 
repulse.  Recalled  late  that  night  from  outpost 
duty,  the  men  bivouacked  in  a  street  of  the  town. 
In  the  forenoon  of  the  4th,  after  a  furious  bom- 
bardment, the  Confederates  assaulted  and  pushed 
a  column  of  attack  through  the  Union  line  near  its 
right.  Colonel  Hubbard  saw  the  impending  danger, 


186  MINNESOTA 

and  without  waiting  for  orders  threw  his  regiment 
on  the  flank  of  the  Confederate  column,  broke  it 
into  fragments,  and  drove  it  back  in  complete  dis- 
order. The  batteries  temporarily  lost  to  the  enemy 
he  retook,  and  restored  the  shattered  battle  line. 
Such  is  the  willing  testimony  of  Rosecrans  him- 
self. Survivors  of  the  Fifth  delight  to  recall  the 
gallant  and  fearless  behavior  of  their  young  Catho- 
lic chaplain  on  that  field.  He  is  now  the  JNIost 
Reverend  John  Ireland,  Archbishop  of  St.  Paul, 
known  everywhere  for  splendid  services  in  church 
and  state. 

In  addition  to  the  five  infantry  regiments  re- 
cruited under  the  calls  of  1862,  five  minor  organ- 
izations were  formed,  one  of  which,  the  Second 
Company  of  Minnesota  sharpshooters,  has  been 
mentioned.  The  First  Sharpshooters  were  mustered 
in  at  Fort  Snelling,  October  5,  1861,  and  sent  to 
Washington  to  become  Company  A  of  the  Second 
Regiment  of  United  States  Sharpshooters.  That 
command  participated  in  the  battles  of  second  Bull 
Run,  Antietam,  and  Fredericksburg,  doing  effective 
work  with  its  Sharps  rifles.  The  Minnesota  com- 
pany had  ten  wounded  at  Antietam. 

Brackett's  Cavalry  Battalion  of  three  companies, 
to  which  a  fourth  was  added  January  1,  1864,  was 
recruited  in  the  fall  months  of  1861,  and  remained 
in  service  till  May,  1866.  The  command,  by  ser- 
vices appropriate  to  its  arm,  contributed  not  a  lit- 
tle to  the  victories  of  Fort  Donelson,  Shiloh,  and 


ARMING  FOR  THE  CIVIL  WAR  187 

Corinth.  It  accompanied  Sully's  Indian  expedition 
to  the  upper  Missouri  in  18G4,  and  took  part  in 
the  battle  of  Killdeer  Mountain.  Stationed  on  the 
right  of  the  line,  the  battalion  cheeked  a  fierce  flank 
attack,  which  it  followed  with  a  gallant  counter- 
charge, inflicting  heavy  loss  on  the  savages. 

The  First  Battery  of  Light  Artillery  was  mus- 
tered in  at  Fort  Snelling,  November  21,  1861,  and 
sent  south  in  midwinter  to  join  Sherman's  division 
at  Pittsburg  Landing,  Tennessee.  In  the  battle  of 
Shiloh,  April  6,  18G2,  this  battery,  forced  back 
with  Prentiss's  routed  division,  united  in  the  heroic 
stand  at  the  point  known  as  "  the  hornet's  nest," 
which  held  back  the  enemy's  advance  till  Grant's 
disordered  regiments  could  be  formed  for  final  and 
effective  defense.  Captain  Emil  Munch  had  his 
horse  shot  under  him  and  was  severely  wounded. 
The  Second  Light  Battery  was  not  accepted  till 
March  21, 1862.  Its  commander,  Captain  William 
A.  Hotchkiss,  had  seen  service  as  an  artilleryman 
in  the  Mexican  War.  At  Perrysville  and  Stone 
River  this  command  played  a  gallant  part,  fortu- 
nately with  small  loss. 

The  passage  of  the  enrollment  act  of  April  16, 
1862,  indicated  an  expectation  that  to  reestablish 
the  authority  of  the  government  over  all  its  terri- 
tory, an  increase  of  the  army  would  be  necessary, 
and  that  the  raising  of  new  troops  might  not  be  left 
to  the  pleasure  or  convenience  of  the  states.  On 
the  day  of  McClellan's  escape  to  the  James  River 


188  MINNESOTA 

(July  2)  President  Lincoln  called  for  300,000 
volunteers.  Minnesota's  quota  was  6362.  On 
August  4  this  call  was  followed  by  an  order  for 
drafting  300,000  men  from  the  loyal  states.  Volun- 
teering, which  for  some  months  had  gone  but 
languidly  forward,  revived.  Public  meetings  were 
held  in  all  the  towns ;  bounties  were  offered  by 
citizens  and  municipal  bodies ;  splendid  examples 
of  patriotic  sacrifices  were  set  by  men  who  could 
ill  afford  them,  and  could  ill  be  spared  by  the  com- 
munities. The  actual  recruiting  was  mainly  done 
by  gentlemen  who  were  promised  commissions  in 
consideration  of  their  services.  The  distribution  of 
the  quotas  to  counties  and  towns  really  set  the 
whole  people  at  work,  with  the  result  that  before 
the  harvest  was  over  five  new  regiments,  the  Sixth, 
Seventh,  Eighth,  Ninth,  and  Tenth,  were  substan- 
tially filled.  However,  it  was  not  till  November  19 
that  the  announcement  could  be  made  that  every 
local  quota  had  been  filled  and  that  all  danger  of 
the  draft,  from  time  to  time  deferred,  was  averted. 
The  immediate  employment  of  all  these  regiments 
was,  as  we  are  to  see,  far  different  from  the  expec- 
tations of  the  recruits.  The  appointments  to  the 
field  and  staff'  positions  were  no  easy  task  for  Gov- 
ernor Ramsey.  It  was  well  known  that  he  would  de- 
sire the  legislature  of  1863  to  elect  him  to  succeed 
the  Hon.  Henry  M.  Rice  as  United  States  senator, 
and  that  another  aspirant  was  at  least  equally  de- 
sirous. His  personal  admirers  urged  him  to  distrib- 


ARMING  FOR  THE  CIVIL  WAR  189 

ute  the  military  "plums"  in  a  way  helpful  to  his 
political  success.  His  political  opponents  were  pro- 
phesying that  he  would  certainly  do  so,  and  charged 
him  with  selfishness,  heartlessness,  and  disregard 
of  experience.  To  the  head  of  one  regiment  he  ap- 
pointed William  Crooks,  an  experienced  civil  engi- 
neer, who  had  been  two  years  at  West  Point  and 
was  his  political  opponent.  For  three  other  regi- 
ments he  took  Lieutenant-Colonels  Miller,  Wilkin, 
and  Thomas  from  the  First,  Second,  and  Fourth 
Minnesota  regiments  respectively. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE   OUTBREAK   OF   THE   SIOUX 

While  the  whole  people  of  Minnesota  were  striv- 
ing night  and  day  to  fill  up  the  new  regiments  with 
volunteers  to  reinforce  the  national  armies,  there 
was  trouble  brewing  within  their  own  boundaries. 
The  reader  will  have  observed  that  small  garrisons 
had  been  and  were  still  maintained  on  the  Indian 
frontiers.  There  was  one  at  Fort  Ripley,  below 
Crow  Wing,  to  protect  the  Chippeway  agency ; 
there  were  two  on  the  borders  of  the  Sioux  reserva- 
tions. Of  these  one  occupied  Fort  Ridgely,  situated 
on  the  north  bank  of  the  Minnesota  River  in  the 
extreme  northwest  corner  of  Nicollet  County.  It 
was  begun  in  1853  when  the  lower  Sioux  were 
arriving  on  their  reservation.  The  garrison  had  for 
its  purpose  the  support  of  the  authority  of  the  gov- 
ernment agents  thereon.  Another  post  had  pre- 
viously been  established  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Red  River,  some  fifteen  miles  north  of  Breeken- 
ridge,  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  the  Red 
River  trade,  carried  in  hundreds  of  single  ox  carts, 
from  depredations  of  both  Sioux  and  Chippeways, 
whose  hunting  parties  waylaid  not  only  one  an- 
other, but  the  white  man's  caravans.    Fort  Aber- 


THE  OUTBREAK  OF  THE  SIOUX  191 

crombie,  although  at  some  distance  from  the  upper 
reserve,  was  near  enough  to  keep  the  upper  Sioux 
aware  of  the  Great  Father's  power.  Although  called 
forts,  no  one  of  the  three  was  in  any  sense  a  strong 
place.  Each  consisted  of  a  group  of  detached  build- 
ings standing  on  the  open  prairie.  The  lapse  of 
years  in  quiet  seemed  to  justify  the  assumption  that 
it  would  be  a  useless  thing  to  form  a  proper  inclosure 
and  fortify  it. 

The  Minnesota  Sioux  betook  themselves  to  the 
reserves  designated  in  the  treaties  of  1851  in  no 
comfortable  frame  of  mind.  They  believed  that 
they  had  been  obliged  to  abandon  their  ancient 
homes  for  an  inadequate  compensation,  and  that 
government  agents  had  conspired  with  the  traders 
and  half-breeds  to  cheat  them  of  money  promised  to 
be  paid  to  their  chiefs.  Two  years  passed  before  they 
were  assured  by  act  of  Congress  that  tliey  would 
be  allowed  to  remain  in  Minnesota  and  not  sent  to 
some  far-off  unknown  country.  The  treaty  commis- 
sioners of  1851  congratulated  the  government  on 
the  establishment  of  a  policy  of  "  concentration," 
under  which  the  Indian  would  be  induced  to  aban- 
don the  chase  and  get  his  living  from  the  soil.  The 
Pond  brothers,  foreseeing  that  this  policy  was  pre- 
mature, decided  not  to  follow  the  tribes  among 
whom  they  had  labored  to  the  reservations.  Con- 
centration of  wild  Indians  averse  to  cultivation 
only  gave  opportunity  for  unceasing  grumbling  in 
council  over  the  general  rascality  of  the  white  man, 


192  MINNESOTA 

the  tyranny  of  the  agent,  the  immorality  of  his 
employees,  the  extortions  of  the  traders,  and  the 
imbecility  of  the  missionaries,  who  worked  for 
nothing. 

In  the  buffalo  season  these  Sioux  swarmed  out 
into  the  Missouri  valley  to  make  boot  upon  the  still 
countless  herds.  At  times  some  wandered  back  to 
theiroldhomes  below.  The  reservations,  while  ample 
in  area  for  eight  thousand  Indians,  were  in  shape 
ridiculously  ill-adapted  for  concentration.  Origi- 
nally they  formed  a  "  shoestring  "  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  long  and  twenty  miles  wide.  That  width 
had  been  reduced  by  the  treaties  of  1858  to  ten 
miles.  There  was  no  privacy  for  the  Indian.  An 
easy  morning  walk  took  him  to  the  boundary,  where 
the  accommodating  white  man  met  him  with  a  keg 
of  illicit  whiskey.  This  opportunity  for  "business" 
doubtless  had  no  little  effect  in  attracting  settlers 
to  the  lands  fronting  on  the  reservations.  The  citi- 
zens of  Brown  County  in  1859  publicly  denounced 
the  criminal  practice,  and  the  county  commissioners 
offered  a  reward  of  twenty-five  dollars  for  evidence 
leading  to  conviction  in  any  prosecution.  While 
generally  harmless,  the  Indians  annoyed  the  set- 
tlers by  untimely  visits  for  food,  and  occasional 
thefts  of  horses  and  cattle. 

The  treaties  of  1858,  already  mentioned,  ceding 
those  parts  of  the  two  reservations  lying  north  of 
the  Minnesota  River,  were  negotiated  with  a  few 
selected  chiefs  carried  to  Washington  so  that  they 


THE   OUTBREAK   OF  THE  SIOUX  193 

might  not  be  restrained  by  the  discussions  of  the 
braves  in  council.  This  was  a  source  of  suspicion, 
which  turned  out  to  be  well  grounded.  The  consid- 
eration for  the  ceded  lands  was  in  part  additions  to 
annuities,  in  part  moneys  to  be  paid  as  the  chiefs 
in  open  council  should  direct.  There  was  long  delay 
in  securing  the  ratification  of  the  treaties  by  the 
Senate,  and  necessary  ancillary  legislation  from 
Congress.  Three  years  passed  before  the  final  pay- 
ments. The  lower  Sioux  found  but  $880. 58  com- 
ing to  them  from  their  "hand  money,"  instead  of 
$40,000.  The  consent  of  the  chiefs  to  this  division 
of  moneys  to  traders  and  others  was  obtained  in  a 
surreptitious,  not  to  say  dishonest,  manner.  The 
upper  Sioux  were  sufficiently,  but  not  so  exten- 
sively, plundered.  From  the  time  of  their  removal 
to  the  reservations  up  to  the  opening  of  the  Civil 
War,  the  annuity  Sioux  were  nursing  their  wrath 
against  the  deceitful  and  greedy  white  man.  At 
the  same  time  they  were  becoming  distrustful  of 
the  power  of  which  he  boasted.  When  the  Great 
Father  had  no  cavalry  to  chase  Inkpaduta,  but  was 
obliged  to  hire  Indians  to  make  that  fruitless  pur- 
suit, the  Sioux  inferred  that  while  he  had  a  great 
multitude  of  people  he  could  not  make  soldiers  of 
them.  A  veteran  missionary  recorded  the  opinion 
that  the  failure  of  the  government  to  pursue  and 
capture  Inkpaduta  was  the  "  primary  cause  "  of  the 
uprising  which  came  five  years  later. 

The  exchange  of  the  garrisons  of  regular  troops 


194  MINNESOTA 

at  the  forts  for  raw  volunteers  was  to  the  Sioux  a 
sign  that  the  Great  Father  was  in  trouble,  and  the 
dispatch  of  raw  men  to  help  defend  his  country 
confirmed  this  view.  Through  the  traders  and  half- 
breeds  the  Indians  were  kept  informed  of  the 
repulses  suffered  by  his  warriors  at  Bull  Run, 
Ball's  Bluff,  and  elsewhere.  Nowhere  could  gossip 
spread  more  speedily  than  in  an  Indian  village, 
where  gossip  was  the  business  of  the  braves  when 
in  camp.  It  is  in  evidence  that  the  strong  "Copper- 
head "  element  among  the  traders  and  half-breeds 
did  not  conceal  their  satisfaction  over  the  defeat 
of  loyal  troops  and  their  belief  that  the  Great 
Father  was  going  to  be  "  cleaned  out." 

The  winter  of  1861-62  was  unusually  severe. 
When  spring  opened  food  was  scarce  in  all  the 
villages.  The  Sissetons  had  eaten  all  their  horses 
and  dogs.  The  farmer  Indians  had  in  the  previous 
summer  been  so  badgered  by  the  unregenerate  of 
their  own  bands,  and  by  the  visiting  Yanktonnais 
of  the  plains,  that  their  industry  had  relaxed,  and 
they  had  but  little  food  to  spare.  The  "  payment " 
was  accordingly  looked  to  with  unusual  eagerness. 
According  to  custom  it  should  come  as  soon  as  the 
grass  of  the  prairies  should  be  fit  for  pasture. 
Spring  ripened  into  summer,  but  the  agents'  run- 
ners did  not  bring  the  welcome  summons  to  the 
villages.  The  upper  Sioux,  tired  of  waiting,  came 
in  to  the  agency  at  Yellow  Medicine  in  the  middle 
of  July  to  the  number  of  four  thousand,  and  with 


THE   OUTBREAK   OF   TFIE   SIOUX  195 

tliem  came  one  thousand  Yanktonnais,  literally  on 
the  eilge  of  starvation.  The  agent  supplied  some 
flour,  pork,  lard,  and  sugar  and  told  them  to  go 
liome.  He  would  call  them  when  he  was  ready. 
But  the  savages  did  not  depart.  In  a  fortnight 
they  had  consumed  the  rations  and  were  again 
hungry.  The  agent  declining  to  furnish  more,  an 
armed  mob  of  several  hundred  warriors  surrounded 
the  government  storehouse,  surprised  the  little 
guard  of  infantry,  broke  the  locks  and  bolts,  and 
carried  off  one  hundred  sacks  of  flour.  Making  a 
virtue  of  necessity,  the  agent,  after  a  talk  in  coun- 
cil, agreed  to  issue  all  the  provisions  and  annuity 
goods,  on  condition  that  the  Indians  would  depart 
and  stay  away  till  called.  Trouble  with  the  upper 
Sioux  was  thus  tided  over,  but  their  respect  for  the 
Great  Father's  power  was  not  increased  by  the 
forced  compliance  of  his  agent. 

There  was  less  want  of  food  in  the  villages  of 
the  lower  Sioux,  but  there  was  enough  to  cause 
distress  and  desire  for  an  early  payment.  The 
agent  had  no  advices.  He  could  give  no  reasons  for 
the  delay  of  the  money.  The  traders  assumed  to 
know  more  than  he,  and  with  a  -fatal  blindness, 
teased  the  Indians  with  suggestions  that  the  Great 
Father  had  spent  all  his  money  and  had  none  left 
for  his  red  children.  As  the  Indians  were  heavily 
in  debt  to  them,  they  began  refusing  further  credits. 
Among  the  rumored  reasons  for  the  delay  of  the 
money,  the  one  most  accepted  was  that  the  govern- 


1%  MINNESOTA 

ment  officials  were  allowing  friends  to  use  it  in 
speculations  on  supply  contracts.  The  fact  was  that 
the  Indian  appropriation  of  18G2  was  not  passed 
in  Congress  till  July  5.  The  gold  was  drawn  from 
the  treasury  on  August  11,  and  was  at  once  dis- 
patched to  the  west.  It  was  brought  to  Fort  Ridgely 
at  noon  on  August  18. 

The  lower  Sioux  did  not  assemble  and  raid  the 
warehouses,  but  resorted  to  a  less  riotous  proced- 
ure. On  the  warpath  or  the  hunt  it  was  Indian  law 
that  a  kind  of  provost  guard  composed  of  active 
warriors  should  maintain  order  on  the  march  and 
in  bivouac.  It  was  called  the  Ti-yo-ti-pi,  or  "Sol- 
diers' lodge,"  had  a  large  discretion,  and  exacted 
instant  obedience.  A  modified  soldiers'  lodge  was 
now  set  up  (June,  1862)  on  the  lower  agency, 
attended  by  one  hundred  and  fifty  warriors.  In  its 
frequent  councils  all  the  grievances  of  the  past  and 
present  were  rehearsed,  and  schemes  for  redress 
broached  and  discussed.  Evidence  is  wanting  to 
support  the  assertions  of  contemporaries  that  in 
this  soldiers'  lodge  there  was  concocted  a  definite 
scheme  of  murder  and  pillage  to  be  carried  out 
later.  Possibly  some  braves,  more  patriotic  than 
judicious,  pictured  the  consequences  to  the  cowardly 
white  man  if  the  great  Sioux  nation  should  launch 
its  hosts  ajjainst  his  undefended  farms  and  villarres. 
But  the  oratory  of  the  lodge  fed  fat  the  ancient 
grudge  of  the  red  men  and  added  to  their  chronic 
exasperation.  The  dog  days  drew  on,  but  there  was 


THE   OUTBREAK   OF  THE   SIOUX  197 

no  outward  sign  of  insurrection.  Although  he  felt 
that  the  Indians  were  in  an  evil  aild  turbulent 
state,  Agent  Galbraith  did  not  think  it  injudicious 
for  him  to  leave  his  people  in  charge  of  his  assist- 
ants and  go  off  to  New  Ulm  with  a  batch  of  forty- 
nine  volunteers  for  the  army  on  the  afternoon  of 
August  15.  The  same  day  he  had  passed  through 
some  of  the  villages  and  had  conferred  with  Little 
Crow  about  the  brick  house  he  was  to  build  for 
that  chief.  Two  days  after  that,  Crow  attended 
morning  services  in  the  Episcopal  mission  chapel, 
and  gave  no  sign  of  excitement  or  enmity. 

But  for  an  unforeseen  incident  the  peace  might 
have  lasted  another  day,  and  lasting  that  other  day, 
on  which  the  annuity  gold  arrived,  might  not  have 
been  broken  by  the  bloodiest  Indian  war  of  the 
American  continent.  On  Sunday,  August  17, 18G2, 
a  party  of  Sioux  from  Rice  Creek  were  hunting  in 
Meeker  County  for  deer,  and,  if  chance  should 
offer,  for  Chippeway  scalps.  Early  in  the  afternoon, 
in  Acton  Township,  Meeker  County,  a  detachment 
of  these  hunters,  four  or  more  in  number,  coming  to 
a  settler's  cabin,  where  three  families  were  assem- 
bled, wantonly  murdered  five  out  of  eleven  persons. 
The  motive  for  this  crime  is  not  easy  to  conjecture. 
The  houses  were  not  plundered  nor  fired.  The  evi- 
dence that  the  savages  were  drunk  has  not  been 
found.  There  may  be  some  value  in  the  story  that 
the  first  shot  was  fired  by  a  young  man  who,  having 
been  twitted  by  his  companions  with  cowardice, 


198  MINNESOTA 

wished  to  show  them  that  he  dared  shoot  a  white 
man. 

Seizing  a  team  and  wagon  of  a  neighboring 
farmer,  the  scoundrels  drove  furiously  to  Shakopee's 
village,  some  ten  miles  above  the  lower  agency. 
Upon  their  arrival  late  at  night  a  council  of  war- 
riors was  called.  The  high  connections  of  the 
murderers  did  not  relish  the  idea  of  turning  them 
over  to  white  man's  justice  to  suffer  a  death  signally 
ig-nominious  to  Indians.  There  was  but  one  alter- 
native,  to  treat  the  killing  of  the  afternoon  as  an 
act  of  war,  and  call  the  nation  to  arms.  After  an 
outburst  of  patriotic  eloquence  this  course  was 
resolved  on,  and  as  soon  as  the  braves  could  arm 
and  mount,  they  moved  toward  the  agency  under 
the  lead  of  Shakopee,  who  was  no  lover  of  the 
whites.  The  party  arrived  at  Little  Crow's  village, 
two  miles  above  the  lower  agency,  at  daybreak,  and 
arousing  that  chief  from  sleep,  explained  the  situa- 
tion. 

Little  Crow  was  the  fifth  Medawakanton  chief 
who  had  borne  that  name,  given  in  French  (Le 
Petit  Corbeau)  to  an  ancestor  who  wore  on  his 
shoulders  the  skin  and  feathers  of  a  crow.  Although 
in  temporary  disgrace  for  connivance  in  the  extor- 
tions of  the  traders  under  the  treaties  of  1858, 
he  was  still  the  most  experienced,  virile,  and  elo- 
quent of  the  chiefs.  White  men  who  knew  him  still 
praise  his  good  sense  and  kindness  of  heart  in 
ordinary  relations.  It  seems  to  be  true  that  in  the 


THE   OUTBREAK   OF   THE   SIOUX  199 

soldiers'  lodge  he  had  counseled  against  anything 
like  wai'  on  the  white  man,  whose  resources  his 
journeys  to  Washington  had  revealed  to  him.  But 
Little  Crow  was  a  heathen  Indian.  The  dogs  of  war 
were  loose,  and  the  leadership  was  his  if  he  would 
have  it.  He  could  recover  his  lost  prestige,  and 
show  his  people  that  he  was  as  brave  in  war  as  he 
was  eloquent  in  council.  Vanity  and  ambition  tri- 
umphed. "It  must  come,"  he  said.  "Now  is  as  good 
a  time  as  any.  I  am  with  you.  Let  us  kill  the  traders 
and  divide  their  goods."  By  seven  o'clock  Little 
Crow  had  possibly  two  hundred  warriors,  armed 
and  painted,  surrounding  the  agency,  with  small 
parties  distributed  about  the  warehouses  and  dwell- 
ings. Upon  signal,  fire  was  opened  on  all  the  whites 
in  sight.  Five  fell  dead  and  many  others  were 
wounded.  Fortunately  the  eagerness  of  the  savages 
to  loot  the  stores  distracted  them  from  killing,  and 
gave  opportunity  for  the  survivors  to  gain  the  cover 
of  the  thickets  in  the  river-bottom.  So  soon  as  the 
plunder  of  the  traders'  goods  was  done,  small  parties 
of  warriors  were  detached  to  raid  the  neighboring 
farms  and  settlements.  These,  on  that  day  and  the 
next,  spread  themselves  over  the  parts  of  Brown 
and  Nicollet  counties  next  to  the  river.  The  white 
men  encountered  were  mostly  killed,  and  the  wo- 
men taken  captive  with  their  children  ;  but  some  of 
these  were  butchered  when  they  delayed  the  march. 
The  dwellings  and  grain  stacks  were  fired,  tlie  farm 
wagons  seized  and  loaded  with  plunder  were  driven 


200  MINNESOTA 

into  Little  Crow's  village.  By  ten  o'clock  in  the 
forenoon  refugees  from  the  lower  agency  had 
reached  Fort  Ridgely.  That  work  was  garrisoned  by 
Company  B  of  the  Fifth  Minnesota  Infantry,  com- 
manded by  Captain  John  S.  Marsh,  who  had  been 
promoted  out  of  a  Wisconsin  regiment  which  he  had 
joined  because  too  late  to  be  enlisted  in  the  First 
Minnesota.  His  first  act  was  to  send  a  mounted 
man  to  overtake  and  recall  Lieutenant  Timothy  I. 
Sheehan,  who  had  at  an  earlier  hour  marched  for 
Fort  Ripley  with  a  detachment  of  C  Company  of 
the  same  regiment.  Putting  forty-six  of  his  men 
in  wagons,  mounting  himself  and  his  interpreter, 
Peter  Quinn,  he  took  the  road  to  the  agency.  Six 
miles  out  from  the  fort  he  came  to  burning  houses 
and  mutilated  corpses  by  the  roadside.  Refugees 
wai-ned  him  that  there  was  trouble  ahead.  Pushing 
on,  he  reached  the  ferry  abreast  of  the  agency,  and 
formed  his  men  in  line  in  readiness  to  cross.  A 
signal  shot  rang  out  and  a  volley  of  bullets  laid 
several  of  the  soldiers  low.  A  moment  later  another 
volley  came  from  Indians  concealed  on  the  right  of 
the  road  by  which  the  detachment  had  arrived. 
After  a  brief  contest,  in  which  half  of  his  men  had 
fallen,  Marsh  led  the  remnant  to  the  cover  of  the 
thicket  on  his  left.  Observing  a  body  of  Indians 
moving  to  intercept  his  party,  he  decided  to  cross 
the  river,  supposing  it  to  be  fordable  at  that  point. 
Wading  into  deep  water  he  was  drowned,  in  spite 
of  the  efforts  of  three  brave  men  to  rescue  him. 


THE   OUTBREAK   OF   THE   SIOUX  201 

This  was  the  "  Battle  of  Redwood  Ferry."  Twenty- 
three  soldiers  were  killed  and  five  wounded.  Cap- 
tain Marsh  had  been  drowned,  and  Interpreter 
Quinn's  body  had  been  riddled  with  bullets  at  the 
first  fire.  The  survivors  straggled  into  Fort  Kidgely 
in  the  course  of  the  following  night. 

Tuesday  the  19th  was  occupied  by  the  savages 
in  other  and  more  distant  raids  for  robbery  and 
slaughter.  In  the  afternoon  a  demonstration  by  a 
body  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  Indians,  more  or 
less,  was  made  on  New  Ulm.  This  was  successfully 
resisted  by  the  organized  townsmen  commanded  by 
Captain  Jacob  Nix.  One  young  woman  was  killed 
by  a  random  shot,  and  a  few  other  persons,  includ- 
ing Captain  Nix,  were  wounded.  A  few  buildings 
were  fired.  Later  in  the  afternoon,  in  the  evening, 
and  in  the  night,  help  came  from  St.  Peter,  Mau- 
kato,  and  other  towns. 

The  "  outbreak  "  was  begun  and  mainly  carried 
on  by  the  lower  tribes,  the  Medawakantons  and 
Wah-pe-ku-tes,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  Acton 
murders  were  done  by  members  of  an  upper  band. 
It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  of  Monday  the  18th 
when  the  upper  Indians,  the  Sissetons  and  Wahpe- 
tons,  hearing  of  the  news,  went  into  council  on  a 
hill  near  the  Yellow  Medicine  agency,  twenty-five 
miles  distant  northwest  of  the  scene  of  the  morning 
carnage.  John  Other  Day,  a  Christian  Indian,  and 
Joseph  La  Framboise,  a  half-breed,  informed  the 
white  people  resident  at  and  about  the  agency, 


202  MINNESOTA 

already  wondering  over  the  ray.sterious  council,  of 
the  outbreak  below  and  collected  them,  to  the  num- 
ber of  sixty-two,  in  the  government  stone  ware- 
house. 

There  they  passed  an  anxious  night.  After  mid- 
night a  trader's  employee  came  in  mortally  wounded. 
At  daylight  a  bookkeeper  of  another  was  killed  and 
a  clerk  painfully  wounded.  The  upper  Indians  were 
keener  for  plunder  than  for  blood.  Collecting  wag- 
ons for  the  women  and  children  and  the  wounded, 
the  party  left  their  shelter,  forded  the  river,  and 
under  the  faithful  guidance  of  Other  Day  made 
their  way  across  country  to  Hutchinson.  Friendly 
warning  given  late  on  Monday  to  the  missionaries, 
Williamson  and  Risfss  residins:  a  few  miles  above 
the  agency,  enabled  them  to  escape  with  their  fami- 
lies and  assistants,  forty-five  in  number,  to  safe 
hiding  in  the  river-bottom,  from  which  they  began 
the  next  day  their  journey  to  Henderson. 

Sporadic  killing,  plunder,  and  devastation  in  the 
regions  adjacent  to  the  agencies  mostly  ceased  by 
Tuesday  night.  Small  parties  of  savages,  however, 
escaping  from  the  control  of  the  chiefs,  spread 
themselves  to  distant  settlements  to  revel  in  car- 
nage and  fire.  Within  a  week  there  were  murder 
and  pillage  in  Meeker  County,  forty  miles  to  the 
northwest  of  the  agencies,  in  Murray  County,  fifty 
miles  to  the  southwest.  Two  persons  were  killed  at 
Sioux  Falls,  one  hundred  miles  away,  and  four  near 
Breckenridge,  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles  as  the 


THE   OUTBREAK   OF  THE   SIOUX  203 

crow  flies.  Fort  Riclgely,  Hutchinson,  Forest  City, 
Glencoe,  and  even  St.  Peter  were  threatened,  but 
not  attacked. 

These  forays  had  their  natural  and  intended 
effect.  As  the  tidings  of  Indian  butchery  spread, 
the  settlers  loaded  what  furniture  and  provisions 
they  could  in  their  wagons,  and  driving  their  stock 
before  them,  made  their  way  to  the  "  river  towns." 
An  area  two  hundred  miles  long  from  north  to  south 
and  fifty  miles  in  breadth  was  de])opulated,  while 
the  harvest  awaited  the  reapers.  Their  flight  was 
all  the  more  precipitate  because  of  rumors  tiiat  the 
Winnebagoes  had  broken  out  along  with  the  Sioux, 
and  that  the  Chippeways  were  to  close  in  from  the 
north.  No  small  number  of  persons  went  back  to 
their  former  homes  in  other  states.  The  occasional 
appearance  of  small  parties  of  Indians  out  for  cat- 
tle-stealing and  other  robberies  for  a  month  after 
the  outbreak  justified  all  the  fears  of  the  fugitives. 
On  September  22  two  children  were  killed  within 
fifteen  miles  of  St.  Cloud,  and  the  little  village  of 
Paynesville  was  fired.  A  small  number  of  persons 
ignorant  of  the  country,  and  not  way-wise,  wandered 
about  for  weeks  before  finding  settlements.  Hun- 
dreds of  settlers  in  the  Missouri  valley  went  to 
Sioux  City  and  other  towns. 

To  what  extent  the  upper  Indians  participated 
in  these  raids  and  in.  the  several  battles  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  determine.  They  were  quite  as  much  exas- 
perated and  were  more  turbulent  than  the  lower 


204  MINNESOTA 

bands.  That  some  of  their  leading  chiefs  and  braves 
sympathized  is  known  to  be  a  fact,  and  it  cannot 
be  doubted  that  many  individual  members  partici- 
pated in  the  murders  and  the  war  which  ensued. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE    SIOUX    WAR 

It  was  not  till  Wednesday  the  20tli  that  Little 
Crow  could  muster  and  bold  together  a  body  of 
warriors  sufficient  to  undertake  regular  warfare 
and  carry  out  a  well-laid  plan  to  capture  Fort 
liidgely.  He  was  aware,  of  course,  that  its  little 
garrison  had  lost  its  commander  and  fully  half  of 
its  men.  lie  probably  did  not  know  of  the  arrival 
of  two  reinforcements  :  one,  Sheehan's  detachment 
recalled  by  Captain  Marsh  before  beginning  his 
fatal  march ;  the  other,  the  party  of  recruits,  en- 
listed at  the  agencies  and  taken  by  Agent  Galbraith 
as  far  as  St.  Peter.  They  took  and  kept  the  name 
of  "  Renville  Rangers."  The  information  brought 
to  Agent  Galbraith  at  St.  Peter  on  the  evening  of 
the  outbreak  indicated  Fort  Ridgely  as  the  point 
where  his  recruits  would  be  most  needed.  He  had 
therefore  led  them  thither  at  daylight  of  Tuesday, 
armed  with  some  Harper's  Ferry  muskets  belonging 
to  a  local  militia  company.  He  had  to  give  bonds 
to  the  exacting  custodian.  What  with  these  troops 
and  with  male  refugees  from  the  agencies  and  the 
surrounding  farms,  Lieutenant  Sheehan,  the  rank- 
ing officer,  had  not  more  than  one  hundred  and 


20G  MINNESOTA 

eighty  combatants.  Upon  the  withdrawal  of  the 
regular  garrison  the  year  before,  six  pieces  of  artil- 
lery of  various  patterns  had  been  left  behind  with 
Ordnance-Sergeant  John  Jones  in  charge.  Of  this 
the  Indians  may  not  have  been  informed.  The  so- 
called  fort  consisted  of  buildings  grouped  on  the 
sides  of  a  square  of  three  hundred  feet,  one  of  them 
of  stone.  Outside  were  small  log  houses  for  civilian 
employees,  stables,  and  stacks  of  hay  and  grain. 
The  site  was  on  the  bluff  separated  from  the  river 
(Minnesota)  by  a  bottom  a  half  mile  in  width. 
Kavines  of  erosion  cut  the  hillside  into  excellent 
})laces  of  approach  and  cover. 

Without  warning,  at  one  o'clock  on  Wednesday 
afternoon  a  volley  was  poured  into  the  central  in- 
closure.  Two  soldiers  fell,  one  dead,  the  other  badly 
wounded.  One  citizen  was  killed  soon  after.  The 
fire  was  returned  from  such  points  of  advantage  as 
the  structures  afforded.  Sergeant  Jones  had  already 
made  up  three  gun  detachments,  partly  from  citi- 
zens who  had  seen  service  and  partly  from  soldiers 
whom  he  had  instructed.  It  was  not  long  before  he 
had  his  guns  in  action,  to  the  great  surprise  of  Little 
Crow,  who  presently  drew  off  his  men.  Thursday 
was  a  day  of  rain,  and  seems  to  have  been  spent  by 
the  Sioux  chiefs  in  consultation  and  in  preparing 
for  a  stronger  assault.  The  time  was  well  spent  by 
the  besieged  in  fitting  ammunition,  building  barri- 
cades of  cordwood,  covering  roofs  with  earth,  and 
other  practicable  strengtheniug  of  defenses. 


THE  SIOUX  WAR  207 

At  one  o'clock  p.  M.  of  Friday,  Little  Crow  de- 
livered his  main  attack,  with  a  force  largely  in- 
creased, on  the  south  and  west  of  the  post.  From 
Ihe  cover  of  ravines  he  kept  up  a  lively  fire  till  late 
in  the  day.  His  last  move,  unusual  in  Indian  war- 
fare, was  that  of  massing  a  body  of  warriors  in  a 
ravine  running  up  toward  the  southwest  angle  of 
the  inclosure,  for  a  charge  on  the  garrison.  Ser- 
geant Jones  thereupon  had  his  twenty-four  pound 
cannon  pointed  down  that  "coolie,"  and  landed  a 
single  shell  which  sent  Crow's  warriors  flying  off 
the  field.  In  the  two  half  days'  fighting  there  had 
been  three  persons  killed  and  thirteen  wounded 
within  the  post. 

As  refugees,  many  wounded,  came  pouring  in  to 
New  Ulm  on  Monday,  the  need  of  outside  help  was 
felt  and  no  second  thought  was  necessary  to  suggest 
the  one  man  to  whom  the  townsmen  should  appeal. 
Charles  Eugene  Flandrau,  for  many  years  resident 
at  old  Traverse  des  Sioux,  who  had  been  Sioux 
agent,  member  of  the  constitutional  convention, 
and  a  judge  of  the  state  supreme  court,  was  the 
best  known  man  all  up  and  down  the  Minnesota 
valley.  His  name  was  a  household  word.  At  four 
o'clock  on  Tuesday  morning  a  messenger  brought 
him  the  summons  of  the  people  of  New  Ulm.  Rid- 
ing into  St.  Peter  he  foimd  the  citizens  awake  and 
alert,  but  without  organization.  In  a  public  meet- 
ing in  the  courthouse  he  was  elected  captain  of  the 
relieving  party  to  be  formed.    About  noon  a  de- 


208  MINNESOTA 

tachment  of  eighteen  mounted  men  was  put  upon 
the  road,  which  arrived  in  New  Ulm  in  time  to 
reassure  the  citizens  after  their  repulse  of  the  In- 
dians. Early  in  the  afternoon  Flandrau's  company 
marched  and  was  swelled  to  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  men  by  acccessions  along  the  route. 
It  was  late  in  the  evening  when  he  arrived.  Early 
on  Wednesday  morning  Captain  Bierbauer  arrived 
from  Mankato  with  one  hundred  men,  and  other 
squads  came  in  that  day. 

In  a  public  meeting  Captain  Flandrau  was  pro- 
moted to  colonel,  and  proceeded  with  dispatch  and 
excellent  judgment  to  form  a  staff,  to  organize  the 
fighting  force,  and  to  fortify  a  central  stronghold 
for  non-combatants.  Choosing  three  blocks  of  the 
main  street,  he  threw  up  barricades  across  the  ends 
and  connected  the  rear  walls  of  abutting  buildings 
with  bullet-proof  constructions,  and  loopholed  the 
walls  of  the  brick  buildings.  On  Thursday  parties 
were  sent  out  to  the  neighboring  hamlets  and  farms 
to  bury  the  dead  and  bring  in  the  wounded. 

No  Indians  appeared  on  that  day  or  the  next. 
Early  on  Saturday  (August  23)  the  smoke  of 
scattered  fires  was  seen  off  to  the  northeast  be- 
yond the  Minnesota.  Had  Little  Crow  captured 
the  fort,  and  were  his  warriors  burning  the  farm- 
steads? To  ascertain.  Colonel  Flandrau  sent  over 
a  detachment  of  seventy-five  men,  which  soon  en- 
countered a  fire  from  its  left  front  and  was  obliged 
to  retreat  to  the  southeast  to  meet  reinforcements 


THE  SIOUX  WAR  209 

expected  from  that  quarter.  Crow's  real  attack 
came  from  the  northwest,  over  the  terraced  plain 
stretching  along  the  river  above  the  town.  Flan- 
drau  had  left  some  three  hundred  and  fifty  men, 
ill-armed  and  undisciplined.  When  aware  of  the 
approach  of  the  Indians,  he  moved  them  out  and 
posted  them  upon  the  slope  of  one  of  the  terraces, 
with  a  line  of  skirmishers  to  the  front.  At  eight 
o'clock  Crow's  warriors  in  a  long  line  with  flanks 
curved  forward  moved  on  in  silence  till  within 
about  a  half  mile  of  the  line  of  defenders.  Then 
raising  such  a  shout  as  only  savages  can,  they 
broke  into  a  run,  firing  as  they  ran.  The  skirmish- 
ers fell  back  in  alarm,  and  the  whole  line,  spite  of 
the  exhortations,  polite  and  other,  of  Flandrau  and 
his  officers,  retreated  to  the  barricades.  The  Sioux 
did  not  follow  in,  but  stopped  and  sought  cover  in 
the  emptied  outer  buildings  of  the  town. 

The  fire  returned  from  the  barricades  discour- 
aged the  Sioux  from  attempting  an  assault.  Late 
in  the  afternoon  a  demonstration  was  made  be- 
low the  town  by  a  party,  some  of  which  wore 
white  men's  clothes.  Thus  misled,  the  brave  Cap- 
tain Dodd,  second  in  command,  unduly  exposed 
himself  and  was  shot  to  death.  Other  weak  at- 
tempts were  made  by  the  persistent  Indian  leader, 
which  came  to  naught.  Ten  of  the  defenders  were 
killed  and  fifty  wounded.  Flandrau  estimated  the 
attacking  force  to  be  six  hundred  and  fifty  in  num- 
ber. Expecting  a  renewal  of  the  fight  on  the  fol- 


210  MINNESOTA 

lowing  morning,  Colonel  Flandrau  ordered  the 
destruction  of  all  buildings  outside  his  fortifica- 
tion. Including  those  burned  by  the  Indians,  one 
hundred  and  ninety  were  destroyed.  Indians  rarely 
fight  by  night ;  and  on  Sunday  morning  they  sent 
in  a  few  long  range  shots,  and  the  "  Battle  of  New 
Ulm  "  was  over. 

Nearly  two  thousand  people  had  been  confined 
in  the  narrow  fortified  space.  The  women  and 
children  had  been  huddled  in  the  cellars.  Food 
was  failing  and  sickness  breaking:  out.  Their  homes 
destroyed,  it  was  resolved  to  move  the  whole  popu- 
lation to  Maukato,  thirty  miles  distant.  On  Mon- 
day morning  they  took  the  road;  the  women,  chil- 
dren, and  wounded  on  wheels,  the  men  and  boys 
on  foot,  escorted  by  the  extemporized  army.  The 
column  reached  its  destination  late  at  night,  and 
the  refugees  met  with  a  generous  reception.  The 
next  day,  August  26,  Colonel  Flandrau's  force 
dissolved. 

Little  Crow  had  staked  everything  on  his  attack 
on  New  Ulm.  Had  he  captured  the  place,  and  dis- 
persed its  defenders,  Mankato,  St.  Peter,  Le  Sueur, 
and  all  the  towns  in  the  valley  would  have  been 
abandoned,  and  the  Sioux  would  have  resumed  pos- 
session of  the  fairest  part  of  their  ancient  country. 
The  Indian  commander  understood  that  after  this 
failure  there  was  little  hope  of  success  in  any 
offensive  movement  unless  better  supported  by  the 
upper  bands.  He  therefore  broke  up  his  camp  be- 


THE  SIOUX  WAR  211 

low  the  Redwood  and  reestablished  it  behind  the 
Yellow  Medicine.  His  men  burned  the  buildiuirs 
at  the  upper  agency,  and  the  mission  houses. 

The  Minnesota  legislature  in  the  extra  session 
of  1862  authorized  an  official  count  of  the  victims 
of  the  Sioux  massacre,  but  as  no  citizens  could  be 
induced  to  undertake  the  service  for  a  per  diem  of 
three  dollars  in  paper  money,  no  such  reckoning 
was  made.  The  estimates  vary  from  500  to  1500. 
That  of  Agent  Galbraith,  made  with  deliberation, 
may  be  accepted :  In  Renville  County,  221 ;  in 
Brown,  204 ;  in  other  Minnesota  counties,  187  ;  in 
Dakota  Territory,  42 ;  total,  654.  His  estimate  of 
government  property  losses  is:  On  the  upper  re- 
serve, $425,000 ;  on  the  lower  reserve,  1500,000. 

When  Governor  Ramsey  got  the  tidings  of  the 
outbreak  of  the  Sioux  in  the  afternoon  of  Tuesday, 
August  19,  his  knowledge  of  Indians  made  it  unne- 
cessary to  deliberate  upon  the  measures  that  must 
be  taken,  or  upon  the  choice  of  a  proper  person 
to  have  the  command.  For  that  duty  he  instantly 
selected  his  old  political  opponent,  Henry  Hastings 
Sibley,  whom  he  commissioned  as  colonel  and  com- 
mander of  the  Indian  expedition.  Mr.  Sibley  had 
maintained  his  robust  and  athletic  constitution ;  he 
knew  the  whole  region  of  operations,  spoke  Frencli 
and  Dakota,  understood  Indian  nature,  and  was 
acquainted  with  all  the  leading  men  of  the  Sioux 
nation. 


212  MINNESOTA 

Early  the  next  morning  Colonel  Sibley  left  Fort 
Snelling  by  steamer,  with  four  companies  of  the 
Sixth  Minnesota  Infantry.  At  Shakopee  he  was 
obliged  to  disembark.  It  was  not  till  late  on  Friday, 
August  22,  that  he  reached  St.  Peter,  which  was 
to  be  his  base  of  operation.  Here  Jack  Frazer,  who 
had  escaped  from  Fort  Ridgely,  brought  him  the 
information  that  the  whole  body  of  Sioux  chiefs  and 
braves,  probably  two  thousand  in  number,  were  on 
the  warpath.  His  four  hundred  raw  infantry  men 
would  be  no  match  for  them,  the  more  because  the 
Austrian  rifles  furnished  them  at  Fort  Snelling 
were  unfit  for  use.  Sending  down  to  Governor 
Ramsay  for  reinforcements,  with  suitable  arms 
and  ammunition,  Colonel  Sibley  devoted  himself 
to  impressing  teams,  provisions,  and  forage,  and 
making  other  preparations  for  his  campaign.  Gov- 
ernor Ramsay  in  a  proclamation  issued  on  the  21st 
called  on  the  militia  of  the  Minnesota  valley  and 
frontier  counties  to  arm  and  mount  and  join  Sib- 
ley's expedition  with  a  few  days'  subsistence.  Com- 
panies from  the  valley  towns,  from  Minneapolis, 
Faribault,  and  elsewhere  reported.  The  remaining 
companies  of  the  Sixth  came  up  with  Springfield 
rifles.  On  the  morning  of  the  26  th  the  expedition 
inarched  for  Fort  Ridgely.  An  advance  party  of 
mounted  men  reached  the  post  on  the  following 
day,  to  the  joy  and  relief  of  the  long  imprisoned 
garrison.  The  main  body  came  up  on  the  28th  and 
made  an  intrenched  camp  outside  the  fort.    To 


THE  SIOUX  WAR  213 

protect  the  column  from  rear  attack  around  its 
left  flank,  Govei-nor  Ramsey  appointed  Judge 
Flandrau  colonel,  and  authorized  him  to  collect 
and  dispose  the  militia  companies  coming  in  from 
the  southeastern  counties,  lie  presently  formed  a 
line  of  posts  from  New  Ulm  and  Mankato  up  the 
valley  of  the  Blue  Earth  and  on  to  the  Iowa  line. 
Yielding  to  the  j^rayers  of  refugees  in  Fort 
Ridgely,  whose  relatives  were  lying  unburied  about 
the  ruins  of  their  homes  or  along  the  roadsides, 
Colonel  Sibley  decided  to  send  out  a  burial  party 
which  should  also  serve  as  a  corps  of  observation. 
It  marched  on  the  morning  of  August  31  under  the 
direction  of  Major  Joseph  R.  Brown,  whom  Colonel 
Sibley  had  attached  to  his  staff.  His  party  was 
made  up  of  Captain  H.  P.  Grant's  company  of  the 
Sixth  Infantry,  fifty  mounted  men  under  Captain 
Joseph  Anderson,  a  fatigue  detail  of  twenty,  and 
seventeen  teamsters.  The  column  moved  slowly, 
halting  to  bury  sixteen  bodies  on  the  agency  road, 
and  at  nightfall  bivouacked  on  the  bottom  near  the 
Redwood  Ferry.  In  the  morning  Major  Brown  with 
the  mounted  men  crossed  the  Minnesota  and  scouted 
through  the  villages  above  the  agency,  to  find  them 
deserted.  The  infantry  force  buried  some  twenty 
bodies  of  Captain  Marsh's  men,  moved  up  the  north 
side,  struck  across  the  prairie  to  the  head  of  Birch 
Coulie,  and  went  into  camp  on  a  singularly  ill- 
chosen  spot,  at  which  Major  Brown  arrived  at  sun- 
set.   The  wagons  were  packed  in  open  order,  and 


214  MINNESOTA 

the  animals  were  tied  to  picket  ropes  stretched  be- 
tween them.  Within  the  circle  so  formed  the  party 
went  early  to  sleep,  some  in  Sibley  tents,  but  most 
under  the  open  sky.  At  daybreak  they  were  awak- 
ened by  a  blood-curdling  yell  and  a  volley  of  bullets 
apparently  from  all  quarters  and  at  short  range. 
Captain  Anderson,  who  had  seen  service  in  the 
Mexican  War,  ordered  his  men  to  lie  low  and  fire 
at  will.  The  infantry  commander,  after  a  vain  effort 
to  form  his  men  in  line,  gave  a  like  judicious  order. 
The  savages  maintained  a  murderous  fire  for  an 
hour,  at  the  end  of  which  ten  of  Brown's  men  were 
killed  and  forty  more  wounded,  himself  included. 
Desultory  firing  continued  throughout  the  day,  in 
the  lulls  of  which  possible  arrangements  for  de- 
fense were  made.  The  bodies  of  over  ninety  horses 
were  strung  along,  and  earth,  dug  up  with  three 
spades  and  one  shovel,  and  with  sabres,  bayonets, 
pocket-knives,  and  tin  plates,  was  heaped  over  them. 
The  pits  thus  formed  served  as  good  cover  for  the 
men  who  were  prudent.  At  two  in  the  afternoon 
the  boom  of  a  cannon  from  the  eastward  gave  notice 
of  approaching  relief,  but  night  fell  and  it  did  not 
come.  The  sound  of  the  morning's  battle  was  heard 
at  Sibley's  outposts,  fifteen  miles  away.  With  all 
possible  dispatch  he  sent  a  relieving  party  consist- 
ing of  three  companies  of  the  Sixth  Infantry,  fifty 
mounted  "Rangers,"  and  a  section  of  artillery,  and 
gave  the  command  to  Colonel  Samuel  McPhail  of 
Houston  County.  The  party  crossed  the  east  branch 


THE   SIOUX   WAR  215 

of  Birch  Coulie  and  came  within  sight  of  Brown's 
camp,  but  the  prudent  commander  did  not  think  it 
wise  to  risk  his  men  in  a  battle.  He  therefore  re- 
crossed  the  branch,  took  up  a  safe  position  for  the 
night,  and  sent  Lieutenant  Sheehan  back  to  Sibley 
for  reinforcements.  Pie  reached  the  fort  unharmed, 
but  his  horse  fell  dead  soon  after  from  gunshot 
wounds.  By  daylight  Colonel  Sibley  reached  Mc- 
Phail's  bivouac  with  the  remaining  companies  of 
the  Sixth  and  five  companies  of  the  Seventh,  which 
had  arrived  the  day  before.  The  Sioux,  seeing  them- 
selves outnumbered,  made  but  feeble  resistance  to 
his  advance  and  rapidly  left  the  neighborhood. 
When  Colonel  Sibley  rode  into  the  impounded 
camp  thirteen  men  lay  dead,  three  more  were  soon 
to  die,  forty-five  were  severely  wounded,  and  others 
had  received  abrasions.  For  more  than  twenty-four 
hours  the  men  had  lain  without  water,  and  they 
were  worn  with  their  ceaseless  watch.  The  "Battle 
of  Birch  Coulie "  has  been  commemorated  by  a 
monument  erected  at  the  expense  of  the  state,  in 
regard  to  which  an  unfortunate  controversy  has 
raged.  Through  misinformation  the  commissioners 
accredited  the  command  of  the  expedition  to  an- 
other than  Major  Joseph  R.  Brown.  To  one  looking 
back  after  the  lapse  of  a  generation  it  would  seem 
that  no  one  would  care  to  be  credited  with  the 
leadership  of  the  disastrous  affair.  Colonel  Sibley 
had  given  the  most  precise  and  emphatic  directions 
to  guard  against  surprise  and  ambush. 


216  MINNESOTA 

Colonel  Sibley  now  had  a  double  problem  before 
him.  He  must  overtake  and  destroy  the  Indian 
forces,  and  that  without  giving  their  commander 
occasion  to  slaughter  the  three  hundred  prisoners  in 
his  possession.  It  was  rumored,  probably  by  Little 
Crow's  instigation,  that  if  attacked  he  would  put 
these  prisoners  between  his  men  and  the  whites.  A 
policy  of  caution  and  delay  was  therefore  desirable. 
It  was  also  necessary  for  the  reason  that  the  com- 
mand at  Fort  Ridgely  was  in  no  way  prepared  for 
war.  The  men  were  not  yet  clothed,  the  supply  of 
food  was  insufficient  and  precarious,  and  ammu- 
nition had  not  yet  been  provided  in  sufficient 
quantity. 

The  mounted  citizens  who  had  rallied  so  promptly 
on  Governor  Ramsey's  call  began  to  disappear  as 
soon  as  there  was  "a  pi-ospect  of  meeting  the  red- 
skins." In  the  middle  of  the  month  (September  14) 
Sibley  reported  to  Governor  Ramsey  that  he  had 
but  twenty-eight  of  that  "  description  of  force,"  and 
would  not  be  surprised  at  a  stampede  among  them. 
Elsewhere  he  speaks  of  it  as  "base  desertion." 
These  men  returning  to  their  homes  were  able  to 
correct  a  widespread  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  with 
Colonel  Sibley  for  needless  delay  in  chasing  Little 
Crow  to  his  lair.  Some  newspapers  threw  out  the 
vile  insinuation  that  he  did  not  pursue  and  destroy 
the  Indians  because  he  had  so  many  friends  among 
them. 

On  the  Birch  Coulic  battlefield  Colonel  Sibley 


THE  SIOUX  WAR  217 

left  in  a  split  stick  this  writing  for  Little  Crow : 
"  If  Little  Crow  has  any  proj)osition  to  make,  let 
him  send  a  half-breed  to  rae,  and  he  shall  be  pro- 
tected in  and  out  of  camp."  To  this  the  chief  re- 
plied in  a  diplomatic  note  in  which  he  complained 
of  the  agent  and  the  traders,  and  asked  to  have 
Governor  Ramsay  informed  of  their  ill-doings.  He 
closed  it  with  an  adroit  reference  to  the  great  many 
prisoners,  women  and  children,  in  his  hands,  as  if 
to  suggest  that  Colonel  Sibley  might  desire  to 
make  him  a  proposition.  Sibley  sent  back  the 
curt  message :  "  Keturn  me  the  prisoners,  and  I 
will  talk  with  you  like  a  man."  On  September  12 
Little  Crow  sent  in  another  letter,  in  which  he 
harped  upon  his  prisoners,  covertly  intimating  that 
he  would  surrender  them  on  guaranty  of  immunity 
for  himself  and  associates.  lie  appealed  to  Colonel 
Sibley  as  an  old  friend  to  suggest  a  way  to  make 
peace. 

The  messenger  who  brought  this  letter  brought 
also,  unknown  to  Crow,  another  from  Wabashaw, 
head  chief  of  the  lower  Sioux,  to  say  that,  if  Colo- 
nel Sibley  would  appoint  a  safe  and  jiroper  place, 
he  and  his  friends  opposed  to  Little  Crow  and  the 
war  would  come  in  and  bring  as  many  of  the  pris- 
oners as  they  could  assemble.  With  tliis  leaven 
working  in  the  Lulian  camp,  Colonel  Sibley  could 
well  afford  to  wait  for  reinforcements,  subsistence, 
and  ammunition,  his  troops  in  the  mean  time  being 
drilled  by  their  officers.  Despite  the  insufficiency 


218  MINNESOTA 

of  all  these,  he  issi^ed  his  order  for  an  advance  into 
the  Indian  country  on  September  14.  A  violent 
rainstorm  set  in  that  day,  and  it  was  not  till  the 
19th  that  he  was  able  to  ferry  his  little  army  across 
the  Minnesota.  It  had  been  reinforced  by  two 
hundred  and  seventy  enlisted  men  of  the  Third 
Minnesota,  paroled  after  the  surrender  of  Mur- 
freesboro'  and  sent  home  to  assist  in  the  Indian 
war.  The  cavalry  force  consisted  of  twenty-five 
troopers.  Three  days  of  easy  marching  brought  the 
command  to  a  point  on  the  government  road  be- 
tween the  agencies  about  three  miles  south  of  the 
Yellow  Medicine,  where  it  went  into  camp  behind 
a  small  lake  and  a  stream  issuing  from  it,  which 
curving  southward  emptied  into  the  Minnesota. 
Little  Crow's  camp  had  been  opposite  the  mouth  of 
the  Chippewa  River  since  the  10th  of  September. 
In  the  councils  there  held  the  leader  made  the  best 
use  of  his  oratorical  gift.  He  flattered,  he  implored, 
he  bullied ;  at  length  he  got  the  chiefs  to  consent  to 
a  stand  against  the  white  man's  army.  How  many 
of  the  upper  chiefs  and  their  men  he  prevailed 
upon  to  join  him  is  a  matter  of  dispute,  but  it  is 
certain  that  some  of  both  did. 

In  the  afternoon  of  the  22d  Crow's  army  of 
some  seven  hundred  and  fifty  warriors  left  their 
camps  and  marched  down  to  the  Yellow  Medicine. 
In  the  following  night  they  were  arranged  prin- 
cipally in  a  line  on  the  east  of  the  road,  between 
the  river  and  Sibley's  camp.  A  party  was  placed  in 


THE  SIOUX   WAR  219 

the  ravine  through  which  flowed  the  outlet  of  the 
little  lake  mentioned,  and  still  another  west  of  the 
road,  behind  a  hillock  on  the  prairie.  On  that  Lit- 
tle Crow  took  his  stand.  Day  dawned,  and  not  an 
Indian  was  in  sight ;  all  were  hid  in  the  timber  or 
tall  grass  of  the  prairie.  It  was  Crow's  expectation 
that  Sibley  would  take  the  road,  and  that  he  would 
not  have  flankers  far  out  from  his  column.  Wlien 
his  advance  should  be  near  the  Yellow  Medicine 
and  abreast  of  the  Indian  right  it  was  to  be  attacked 
in  flank,  the  party  concealed  in  the  coolie  would 
close  in  on  the  rear,  and  that  beiiind  the  hillock 
would  give  the  finishing  blow.  All  that  might 
have  happened,  but  for  an  accident.  Some  men 
of  the  Third  Minnesota  left  the  camp  with  teams 
to  bring  in  potatoes  from  the  gardens  about  the 
upper  agency.  They  passed  so  near  the  Indian 
line  that  the  warriors  could  not  be  restrained  from 
firing.  One  man  was  killed  and  others  wounded. 
Major  Welch,  commanding  the  Third,  got  his  men 
into  line,  and  without  orders  took  them  forward  on 
the  double-quick  and  precipitated  the  fight.  Al- 
though forced  to  retire  from  an  advanced  position, 
he  held  the  centre  firmly.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Wil- 
liam R.  Marshall  led  the  companies  of  the  Seventh 
into  the  ravine  and  cleared  it.  A  detachment  of  the 
Sixth  dispersed  a  party  attempting  to  turn  its  left. 
The  battery  of  Captain  Hendricks,  advantageously 
posted,  swept  the  field  generally.  After  two  hours 
of  desultory  firing  the  Sioux  warriors  disappeared 


220  MINNESOTA 

behind  the  Yellow  Medicine,  and  the  "Battle  of 
Wood  Lake  "  was  over.  Only  four  white  soldiers 
were  killed  outright,  and  thirty-three  severely 
wounded.  The  Sioux  left  sixteen  dead  on  the  field, 
all  of  whom  were  scalped  by  savages  under  white 
skins.  Colonel  Sibley,  in  an  order  published  the 
following  day,  expressed  his  extreme  mortification, 
and  threatened  severe  punishment  for  any  repeti- 
tion of  the  brutality.  Colonel  Sibley's  advices  from 
the  Indian  camps  were  such  as  to  convince  him 
that  a  precipitate  march  on  them  might  bring  on 
a  slaughter  of  the  white  prisoners.  To  give  time  for 
the  friendly  element  to  obtain  possession  of  them  he 
tarried  a  day  below  the  Yellow  Medicine,  and  took 
two  days  of  easy  marching  to  reach  those  camps 
opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Chippewa  River.  His 
judgment  was  fully  justified.  Little  Crow  returned 
from  the  battle,  upbraided  his  chiefs  for  cowardice 
and  stupidity,  took  his  family  and  a  small  body  of 
adherents  and  departed  for  the  distant  northwest. 
Other  hostile  chiefs  followed  his  example.  There 
were  others  still  who  had  been  engaged  in  the  mur- 
ders and  battles  who  thought  it  best  to  go  over  to 
the  friendly  camp  and  take  their  chances  of  being 
treated  as  prisoners  of  war.  Colonel  Sibley  had 
found  a  camp  of  150  lodges  which  the  friendlies 
had  fortified  against  the  hostiles,  who  on  their  dis- 
persion had  sent  over  to  it  the  greater  number  of 
their  captives ;  91  whites  and  150  breeds  were 
turned  over  to  him  on  the  afternoon  of  September 


THE   SIOUX   WAR  221 

26.  The  total  number  was  presently  increased  to 
269,  107  whites  and  162  mixed  bloods.  A  few  had 
been  humanely  treated  through  the  interposition 
of  Christian  Indians,  but  the  experiences  of  many 
may  be  left  to  the  imagination  of  the  reader 


CHAPTER  XIII 

SEQUEL   TO   THE  INDIAN   WAR 

A  WEEK  after  the  Wood  Lake  affair  the  President 
appointed  Colonel  Sibley  a  brigadier-general.  His 
confirmation  by  the  Senate  was  long  delayed,  but 
he  exercised  the  command  of  that  rank  from  the 
date  of  appointment.  Up  to  the  time  of  leaving 
Fort  Ridgely  for  the  upper  country  Colonel  Sibley 
had  been  carrying  on  a  state  war.  On  the  6th  of 
September  Governor  Ramsey  sent  this  peremptory 
telegram  to  the  President :  "  These  Indian  outrages 
continue.  .  .  .  This  is  not  our  war.  It  is  a  national 
war.  Answer  me  at  once.  More  than  five  hundred 
whites  have  been  murdered."  That  very  day  the 
Secretary  of  War  ordered  Major-General  John 
Pope  to  take  command  of  the  Department  of  the 
Northwest.  That  officer  had  seen  service  in  the  In- 
dian country  and  was  at  the  time  not  otherwise 
employed.  His  first  order  to  Colonel  Sibley  was 
received  September  19,  the  day  of  his  departure 
from  Fort  Ridgely.  It  made  no  change  in  the  dis- 
positions of  the  subordinate  commander,  but  urged 
him  to  push  forward,  and  promised  all  the  support 
he  could  control.  General  Pope,  persuaded  that 
Sibley  had  some  twenty-six  hundred  Sioux  warriors 


SEQUEL  TO  THE   INDIAN   WAR  223 

in  his  front,  made  requisitions  for  troops  and  sup- 
plies on  a  scale  which  called  out  a  rebuke  from  the 
secretary.  His  demand  for  mounted  troops  rather 
than  infantry  was  reasonable.  His  stay  in  the  de- 
partment was  brief,  and  at  its  close  Brigadier-Gen- 
eral Sibley  was  put  in  command  of  a  distinct  dis- 
trict of  Minnesota,  That  Sibley  was  thus  promoted 
and  assigned  was  possibly  due  to  a  remonstrance 
addressed  by  Pope  to  Halleck  against  the  appoint- 
ment of  Senator  Henry  M.  Kice  as  major-general 
to  be  assigned  to  the  department.  It  is  remarkable 
that  Sibley,  writing  to  his  wife,  expressed  his  pre- 
ference for  Rice,  if  any  stranger  was  to  be  placed 
over  him.  It  was  not  till  after  the  close  of  the  cam- 
paign that  the  Sixth  and  Seventh  regiments  were 
mustered  into  the  service  of  the  United  States. 

The  line  of  forts  maintained  by  Colonel  Flandrau 
from  the  big  bend  of  the  Minnesota  southward 
effectively  protected  Sibley's  left;  and  it  restrained 
the  Winnebagoes  from  breaking  out  of  their  re- 
serve, if  they  had  any  such  intention,  which  was 
very  doubtful,  although  so  believed  at  the  time.  The 
right  flank  of  the  expedition  was  not  for  some  time 
protected.  Here  were  two  dangers.  Fort  Aber- 
crombie  had  been  occupied  since  spring  by  Com- 
pany D  of  the  Fifth  Minnesota,  under  command  of 
Captain  John  Van  der  Horck.  A  newspaper  clip- 
ping received  on  August  20  gave  him  warning  of 
the  outbreak  of  the  lower  Sioux.  He  immediately 
called  In  his  outpost  and  the  few  settlers  of  the  Red 


224  MINNESOTA 

Kiver  valley,  proceeded  to  surround  the  separate 
buildings  which  formed  the  post  with  breastworks, 
and  placed  three  howitzers  in  the  salients.  On  the 
last  day  of  the  month  but  one  a  party  of  Indians 
stampeded  a  herd  of  stock  which  had  been  sent  out 
in  anticipation  of  a  treaty  with  the  Red  Lake  and 
Pembina  Chippeways.  On  September  3  an  Indian 
force,  considerable  in  number,  appeared  about  the 
post  and  maintained  a  desultory  fire  for  some  hours. 
On  the  6th  a  still  larger  force  made  a  determined 
but  vain  attack,  charging  with  boldness  unusual  for 
Indians,  first  one  quarter  of  the  inclosure  and  then 
another.  The  command  suffered  a  loss  of  two  killed 
and  three  wounded  in  the  two  days'  actions.  The 
Indians  were  not  driven  from  the  neighborhood  till 
September  23,  when  Captain  Emil  Burger  arrived 
from  below  with  a  relieving  force  of  five  hundred 
men.  The  mooted  question  whether  these  attacks 
at  Abercrombie  were  made  by  upper  Sioux,  lower 
Sioux,  Yanktonnais,  or  by  a  mixture  of  all  these, 
has  not  been  conclusively  answered.  The  capture 
of  this  post  would  have  exposed  a  wide  territory 
to  Indian  slaughter  and  depredation. 

A  disturbance  of  the  habitual  quiet  of  the  Chippe- 
ways of  northern  Minnesota  gave  countenance  to  a 
rumor  which  spread  throughout  the  state,  that  those 
Indians  were  about  making  common  cause  with 
their  ancient  foes  against  the  white  man,  equally 
hated.  On  the  very  day  of  the  Sioux  outbreak  the 
Pillagers  seized  seven  whites,  mostly  traders,  at 


SEQUEL  TO  THE  INDIAN  WAR  225 

Leech  Lake,  and  the  Gull  Lake  Chippeways  drove 
some  horses  and  cattle  from  the  agency  on  the 
Crow  Wing  River.  The  acts  and  threats  made 
against  his  safety  so  alarmed  the  agent,  Lucius  C. 
Walker,  that  he  fled  the  Indian  country  for  his 
home,  and,  probably  in  a  state  of  temporary  insan- 
ity, took  his  life,  by  means  of  a  loaded  pistol,  near 
Monticello.  Hole-in -the-day,  the  head  chief  of  the 
Chippeways  of  the  Mississippi,  called  an  assemblage 
of  braves,  and  a  few  hundred  gathered.  A  trust- 
worthy person,  the  missionary  Emmegabowgh,  re- 
ported that  this  chief  had  declared  in  council  that 
a  league  had  been  made  with  the  Sioux.  The 
Chippeway  braves,  however,  had  no  desire  to  take 
the  warpath,  and  dispersed  to  their  homes.  These 
transactions,  reported  in  the  St.  Paul  newspapers, 
naturally  excited  alarm.  Three  companies  of  in- 
fantry were  sent  to  Fort  Ripley,  martial  law  was 
declared  at  that  i^ost,  and  the  settlers  were  notified 
to  come  in  for  protection.  When  the  legislature  as- 
sembled in  extra  session  on  September  9,  Governor 
Ramsey  called  their  attention  to  the  Chippeway 
ruction.  Uuconcerned  about  constitutional  restric- 
tions, that  body  appointed  a  board  of  commissioners 
to  proceed  to  the  Indian  country  to  adjust  the  dif- 
ficulties. Although  the  Cliippeways  had  dispersed 
and  the  excitement  had  disappeared,  the  plenipo- 
tentiaries had  the  chiefs  assembled  in  council,  and 
negotiated  with  them  a  treaty  which  was  solemnly 
signed  and  sealed.  This  aiireement  bound  the  lii;:li 


226  MINNESOTA 

contracting  powers  to  eternal  peace,  to  an  arbitra- 
tion of  all  existing  differences,  and  exempted  the 
Chippeways  from  payment  of  damages  for  the  ex- 
penses they  had  put  the  government  to  by  their  late 
misbehavior.  The  legislature  memorialized  the  Pre- 
sident to  carry  out  these  provisions.  In  evidence  of 
full  restoration  of  peace  fifty  Chippeway  chiefs  and 
braves  came  down  to  St.  Paul  to  offer  their  services 
in  punishing  the  Sioux.  It  would  have  given  them 
great  pleasure  to  take  Sioux  scalps  in  so  lawful  a 
manner. 

Had  it  been  possible  to  furnish  General  Sibley 
with  a  sufficient  cavalry  force,  it  would  have  been 
feasible  for  him,  after  the  battle  of  Wood  Lake, 
to  overtake  and  impound  the  greater  number  of 
Indians  concerned  in  their  disastrous  campaign. 
Infantry  expeditions  sent  out  to  Lac  qui  Parle,  to 
Goose  Nest  Lake,  and  elsewhere,  brought  in  a  few 
hundred  people.  More  came  in  response  to  a  pro- 
clamation distributed  by  runners.  Bands  which  had 
squandered  their  plunder  and  wasted  their  food 
had  no  other  resource.  In  the  course  of  a  few  days 
nearly  two  thousand  Indians  were  under  guard, 
the  greater  part  being  women  and  children.  Some 
five  thousand  or  more  were  at  large.  The  disposi- 
tion of  those  in  hand  now  occupied  the  attention 
of  the  authorities.  Major-General  Pope  in  a  dis- 
patch of  September  28  probably  voiced  the  senti- 
ment of  the  great  majority  of  the  white  people  of 


SEQUEL  TO  THE  INDIAN   WAR  227 

the  Northwest.  "Make  no  treaty  with  the  In- 
dians," he  wrote  Sibley ;  "  the  horrible  massacre 
and  outrages  call  for  punishment  beyond  human 
power  to  inflict.  It  is  my  purpose  to  exterminate 
the  Sioux,  if  I  have  the  power  to  do  so."  General 
Sibley  was  too  humane  and  judicious  to  give  serious 
regard  to  so  insane  a  proi)osal.  lie  had  already 
appointed  a  committee  of  inquiry  to  ascertain  what 
Indians  under  his  guard  had  probably  been  guilty 
of  murder  and  outrage.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Riggs,  who 
held  the  place  of  chaplain  on  the  staff  of  Sibley, 
gave  such  valuable  assistance  that  Heard,  the  con- 
temporary historian,  declares  him  to  have  been  a 
virtual  grand  jury.  Sixteen  Indians  were  at  once 
picked  out  by  the  sifting  committee  and  duly 
arraigned  before  a  military  commission  of  five 
ojSicers.  Additional  arrests  were  made  from  day  to 
day,  and  by  October  7  General  Sibley  was  able  to 
report  that  he  had  twenty  under  sentence  of  death, 
and  that  he  should  probably  approve  the  sentences 
and  hang  the  villains,  despite  some  doubt  as  to  the 
extent  of  his  powers  and  the  formal  correctness  of 
the  trials.  This  moderate  number  of  convictions 
evidently  did  not  satisfy  the  superior  authority, 
which  called  for  arrests  and  trials  on  a  greater 
scale.  On  the  night  of  October  11  Sibley  placed 
81  warriors  in  irons  at  Camp  Release  and  ordered 
a  similar  "  purging "  at  Yellow  Medicine,  where 
he  had  sent  1250  of  his  prisoners  to  subsist  on  the 
corn  and   potatoes   of  the   Indian  gardens.   By  a 


228  MINNESOTA 

"  piece  of  justifiable  strategy "  236  men  were 
"  fixed "  in  the  same  way.  The  military  commis- 
sion now  had  abundance  of  material  and  applied 
themselves  diligently  to  duty.  They  completed  it  on 
November  5,  having  tried  425  prisoners,  of  whom 
they  found  321  guilty  and  sentenced  303  of  them 
to  death.  The  proceedings  of  the  military  commis- 
sion, approved  by  General  Sibley,  were  forwarded 
to  the  department  commander.  That'  officer  in- 
formed Governor  Ramsey  with  unconcealed  satis- 
faction that  the  sentences  would  all  be  executed 
unless  forbidden  by  the  President.  The  trials  com- 
pleted. General  Sibley  sent  the  principal  body  of 
his  Indian  prisoners,  1648  in  number,  under  guard 
to  Fort  Snelling.  The  interpreter  accompanying 
the  column  relates  that  as  it  passed  through  Hen- 
derson the  prisoners  were  assaulted  with  arms 
and  missiles.  One  infant  died  from  its  injuries 
and  was  "buried"  Indian  fashion  in  the  crotch 
of  a  roadside  tree.  On  November  9  the  troops 
with  the  convicted  prisoners  were  marched  to 
South  Bend,  a  western  suburb  of  Mankato.  As 
the  column  was  passing  through  New  Ulm  a  crowd 
of  exasperated  citizens  of  both  sexes  showered 
brickbats  and  other  missiles  on  the  prisoners  in 
such  profusion  that  a  bayonet  charge  was  necessary 
to  restrain  them.  Fifteen  or  twenty  men  were  ar- 
rested, but  after  a  march  of  twelve  miles  were 
reprimanded  and  allowed  to  take  a  walk  to  their 
homes.  General  Sibley  turned  over  the  command 


SEQUEL   TO   THE   INDIAN   WAR  229 

to  Colonel  Miller  of  the  Seventh  Infantry  and  pro- 
ceeded to  St.  Paul,  to  take  up  his  duty  as  district 
commander. 

The  action  of  the  military  commission  met  with 
general  approval  throughout  the  state.  Citizens  of 
St.  Paul  in  public  meeting  demanded  that  the  gov- 
ernment authorities,  as  the  chosen  instruments  of 
divine  vengeance,  should  so  execute  their  duty  that 
the  friends  and  relatives  of  the  victims  should  not 
be  compelled  to  take  vengeance  into  their  own 
hands.  General  Pope  advised  President  Lincoln 
that  unless  all  the  executions  were  made,  an  indis- 
criminate massacre  of  all  the  Indian  prisoners, 
innocent  and  guilty,  would  take  place.  Governor 
Ramsey  also  expressed  the  same  opinion  to  the 
President.  The  Minnesota  delegation  in  Congress, 
Senator  Rice  not  signing,  protested  against  the 
convicts  being  considered  prisoners  of  war,  and 
declared  that  the  outraged  citizens  of  Minnesota 
would  dispose  of  the  wretches  without  law,  if  they 
should  not  be  executed  according  to  law.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  went  to  the  President  appeals 
and  protests  against  a  horrible  wholesale  execution, 
from  members  of  the  Friends  Society  and  various 
humanitarian  organizations.  So  far  as  known  there 
was  but  one  public  man  in  Minnesota  whose  judg- 
ment was  not  subjugated  by  the  passion  of  the  hour. 
He  was  Henry  Benjamin  Whip])le,  bishop  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  who  three  years  be- 


230  MINNESOTA 

fore  the  Sioux  outbreak  had  come  to  the  state. 
Immediately  after  his  arrival  his  attention  was 
called  to  the  red  men  of  his  diocese,  and  it  was 
not  long  before  he  had  fathomed  the  iniquities  of 
the  traditional  Indian  system.  In  March,  1862, 
he  addressed  an  open  letter  to  President  Lincoln, 
summarizing  those  iniquities,  and  insisting  on  giv- 
ing the  Indian  a  government  of  law,  administered 
by  agents  chosen  for  fitness  and  not  for  political 
service.  A  calm  and  clear  statement  of  the  policy 
and  the  train  of  events  which  had  led  to  the  out- 
break of  the  Sioux,  published  in  the  St.  Paul  news- 
papers, brought  about  the  bishop  a  whirlwind  of 
denunciation  which  would  have  taken  an  ordinary 
man  off  his  feet.  Bishop  Whipple  never  budged 
an  inch.  His  personal  representations  to  the  Pre- 
sident no  doubt  had  their  effect  in  the  action  which 
followed.  On  the  day  when  General  Pope  was 
hopefully  awaiting  the  President's  permission  to 
execute  the  whole  batch  of  the  condemned,  he  re- 
ceived a  telegraphic  order  from  Lincoln  to  send 
him  the  record  of  the  trials.  This  the  President 
put  into  the  hands  of  two  men  on  whom  he  relied. 
They  reported  that  forty  of  the  convicts  only  had 
committed  murders  of  unarmed  citizens.  Of  this 
number,  two  only  were  guilty  of  outrages  on  women. 
On  December  6, 1862,  President  Lincoln  wrote  out 
and  signed  with  his  own  hand  his  order  for  the 
execution  of  thirty-eight,  directing  the  remainder 
to  be  safely  held,  subject  to  further  orders.    One 


SEQUEL  TO  THE  INDIAN   WAR  231 

of  the  forty  bad  been  allowed  a  commutation  to 
ten  years'  imprisonment,  anotber  a  reprieve.  Tbe 
condemned  were  separated  from  their  comrades 
and  closely  confined  in  irons  in  a  stone  buildinjj 
on  tbe  main  street  of  IMankato.  All  but  two  were 
baptized,  thirty  two  by  the  Catholic  father  Ravoux. 
On  December  2G,  1862,  the  execution  took  place  in 
presence  of  a  great  crowd.  Some  years  after,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Riggs  publicly  stated  that  mistakes  were 
made  in  the  separation  of  the  condemned  from  the 
body  of  convicts,  'but  not  intentionally.'  The 
bodies  were  buried,  but  not  to  stay  underground. 
Many,  if  not  all,  were  distributed  among  members 
of  the  medical  profession,  to  be  used  in  the  cause 
of  science.  The  excitement  of  the  people  soon 
abated,  and  the  opinion  at  length  prevailed  that 
the  crimes  of  the  Indians  had  been  sufficiently 
atoned.  Some  of  the  survivors  might  have  pre- 
ferred the  fate  of  those  who  suffered  at  Mankato. 

The  announcement  that  the  War  Department 
would  withdraw  some  of  the  Minnesota  regiments 
after  the  close  of  Sibley's  campaign  met  with  such 
loud  and  repeated  protests  that  the  order,  if  issued, 
was  revoked.  The  three  companies  of  the  Fifth, 
however,  joined  their  regiment  in  the  South  at  the 
close  of  the  year,  and  the  Third  followed  in  Janu- 
ary, 1863.  The  remaining  infantry  regiments,  Sev- 
enth, Eighth,  Ninth,  Tenth,  and  the  regiment  of 
twelve  companies  of  IMonnted  Rangers  raised  in 
the  fall  of  1862,  were  so  disposed  as  to  form  a  sure 


232  MINNESOTA 

cordon  of  defense  against  possible  raids  by  hostile 
Indians  on  the  settlements. 

When  Congress  assembled  in  December,  1862, 
there  was  little  opposition  to  drastic  propositions 
regarding  the  Sioux  Indians.  Acts  were  passed  for 
abrogating  all  treaties,  forfeiting  all  lands,  annull- 
ing all  annuities ;  for  the  immediate  relief  of  citi- 
zens of  Minnesota  from  Indian  ravages  to  be  paid 
out  of  moneys  of  the  Sioux ;  for  reimbursing  Min- 
nesota for  the  costs  of  the  campaign  against  the 
Sioux  up  to  the  time  (September  5)  when  the  War 
Department  assumed  charge ;  for  the  removal  from 
Minnesota  of  all  the  Winnebagoes  and  Sioux;  and 
for  the  survey  and  sale  of  their  reservations.  All 
these  provisions  were  rigorously  executed.  The 
state's  Indian  war  expenses  were  ascertained  to 
be  $250,507.06,  and  that  sum  was  allowed  in  a 
settlement  of  accounts.  The  commissioners  ap- 
pointed to  award  relief  and  damages  reported  that 
out  of  8200,000  allowed  for  immediate  relief  they 
had  paid  $184,392  to  1380  claimants.  As  damages 
they  awarded  $1,170,374  to  2635  claimants.  Their 
awards  were  liberal,  and  attorneys  for  beneficiaries 
were  well  compensated. 

The  removal  of  the  Indians  from  Minnesota  be- 
gan in  April,  1863,  with  the  transportation  of  the 
convicts  to  Fort  McClellan  in  East  Davenport, 
Iowa.  They  had  been  kept  under  guard  at  South 
Bend  during  the  winter,  where  a  remarkable  work 
of  grace  took  place  among  them  under  the  minis- 


SEQUEL  TO  THE  INDIAN   WAR  233 

tration  of  the  veteran  missionary  Williamson  and 
his  devoted  sister  "  Aunt  Jane."  On  February  1, 
18G3,  three  hundred  were  baptized  by  that  evan- 
gelist aided  by  the  Rev.  Gideon  H,  Pond.  The 
conduct  of  these  convicts  in  prison  at  Davenport 
was  in  all  respects  praiseworthy.  They  were  or- 
derly, and  for  Indians  industrious,  and  took  much 
comfort  in  their  religious  meetings.  Dr.  Williamson 
remained  with  them  two  years.  In  18G4  President 
Lincoln  pardoned  seventy-five  and  sent  them  west 
to  their  people.  Two  years  later  the  two  hun- 
dred and  forty-seven  survivors  were  liberated.  One 
third  of  the  whole  number  committed  died  in 
prison. 

The  uncondemned  Sioux  prisoners  marched  to 
Fort  Snelling  in  November,  1862,  were  kept  in  a 
guarded  camp  till  May,  when  they  were  transported 
to  a  chosen  reservation  on  Crow  Creek  on  the  Mis- 
souri, some  sixty  miles  below  Pierre.  The  land  was 
80  barren  and  the  seasons  so  unfavorable  that  the 
government  was  obliged  to  feed  them  for  three 
years,  when  they  were  moved  to  the  Niobrara  re- 
servation in  Nebraska,  where  they  have  remained. 
A  small  remnant  of  some  twenty-five  families  of 
friendlies,  many  of  them  Christians,  were  suffered 
to  remain  in  Minnesota,  because  they  could  not 
safely  live  among  the  heathen  people.  A  small 
donation  of  $7500  was  made  to  them  by  Congress 
in  1865,  the  distribution  being  intrusted  to  General 
Sibley  and  Bishop  Whipple.    A  handful  still  sur- 


234  MINNESOTA 

vivo.  The  Sisseton  and  Wahpeton  Sioux,  who  had 
removed  themselves  from  Minnesota  after  the  bat- 
tle of  Wood  Lake,  had  no  fixed  home  till  1867, 
when  Congress  settled  them  on  two  reservations 
in  Dakota  Territory :  one  west  of  and  adjoining 
Lake  Traverse,  the  other  around  Devil's  Lake. 

As  for  the  Sioux  who  had  escaped  from  Sibley 
after  Wood  Lake,  and  others  living  on  the  Mis- 
souri regarded  as  dangerous,  there  was  no  other 
thought  than  that  they  must  be  followed,  and,  if 
not  exterminated,  so  punished  and  scattered  that 
they  could  never  again  lift  a  finger  against  their 
beneficent  guardian,  the  white  man.  General  Pope 
at  Milwaukee  still  commanding  the  department 
of  the  Northwest,  early  in  the  winter  of  1863  de- 
vised a  plan  for  a  campaign  which  was  to  have 
such  results.  Two  columns  were  to  penetrate  the 
Indian  country  between  the  Minnesota  line  and 
the  Missouri :  one,  of  cavalry,  to  move  from  Fort 
Randall  directly  up  the  Missouri ;  the  other,  from 
the  upper  Minnesota,  under  the  command  of  Brig- 
adier-General Sibley ;  both  to  move  so  soon  as 
the  buffalo  grass  should  be  high  enough  for  pas- 
ture. Sibley's  expedition  rendezvoused  at  Camp 
Pope  in  the  angle  of  the  Minnesota  and  Redwood 
rivers.  He  had  3200  infantry,  including  the  Sixth, 
Seventh,  and  Tenth  Minnesota,  the  Minnesota 
Mounted  Rangers  500  strong,  120  artillerj^men, 
170  scouts  headed  by  Major  Joseph  R.  Brown ;  in 


SEQUEL  TO  THE   INDIAN   WAR  235 

all  some  4200  men.  Leaving  Camp  Pope  June  16, 
the  expedition  marched  up  the  Minnesota  to  and 
past  Big  Stone  Lake,  and  then  struck  across  to  the 
valley  of  the  Cheyenne,  which  it  followed  to  within 
two  or  three  days'  march  of  Devil's  Lake.  Here 
Sibley  got  word  of  a  body  of  Indians  off  to  his  left. 
Leaving  one  third  of  his  force  in  a  fortified  camp, 
he  turned  to  the  southwest,  crossed  the  James 
River,  and  in  Burleigh  County,  North  Dakota,  on 
July  24,  came  upon  a  body  of  Indians,  perhaps 
two  thousand  in  number. 

A  colloquy  between  outposts  was  taking  place, 
to  which  Dr.  Josiah  S.  Weiser,  surgeon  of  the 
First  Mounted  Rangers,  rode  up.  A  young  savage, 
after  a  show  of  friendship,  treacherously  shot  him 
dead.  This  was  the  signal  for  attack.  The  Sioux, 
not  being  on  the  warpath,  were  not  prepared  for 
battle.  Their  warriors  made  the  best  rear-guard 
defense  they  could,  to  gain  time  for  their  women 
and  children  to  escape.  The  pursuit  by  the  cavalry 
lasted  till  nearly  dark.  A  great  quantity  of  buffalo 
skins,  dried  meat  and  tallow,  and  camp  furniture 
was  gathered  and  burned.  In  this  "  Battle  of  Big 
Mound "  three  of  Sibley's  men  were  wounded. 
Of  the  eighty  Sioux  killed  and  wounded,  twenty- 
one  were  scalped.  Two  days  later  a  similar  engage- 
ment, called  the  "  Battle  of  Dead  Buffalo  Lake," 
took  place,  with  a  similar  result.  The  nine  Indians 
killed  were  scalped,  to  the  disgust  of  the  com- 
mander. On  July  28  still  another  affair  of  the  same 


236  MINNESOTA 

character  occurred,  in  which  the  Indians  made  a 
more  spirited  but  unsuccessful  resistance  to  gain 
time  for  their  people  to  set  themselves  across  the 
Missouri,  near  the  banks  of  which  the  fight  was 
going  on.  They  lost  ten  killed,  the  whites  none. 

The  escape  of  the  Sioux  beyond  the  Missouri  was 
due  to  the  failure  of  the  column  sent  up  that  river  to 
cooperate  in  their  capture.  General  Alfred  Sully's 
cavalry  did  not  arrive,  and  having  no  tidings  of 
it,  Sibley  began  his  homeward  march  on  August  3. 
The  expedition  returned  to  Fort  Snelling  on  Sep- 
tember 13,  having  marched  1039|  miles.  On  the 
outward  journey  the  commander  suffered  a  severe 
injury  from  the  fall  of  his  horse,  and,  far  worse, 
received  news  of  the  death  of  two  young  chil- 
dren. His  diary  reflects  his  deep  and  natural 
sorrow. 

The  movement  of  General  Sully  resulted  in  over- 
taking the  Sioux  who  had  recrossed  the  Missouri 
and  were  hunting  in  Dickey  County,  North  Da- 
kota. His  attack  upon  them  at  White  Stone  Hill, 
resulting  in  considerable  slaughter  and  destruction 
of  immense  booty,  cannot  be  here  related.  The 
results  of  the  operation  of  1863  against  the  Sioux 
were  negative.  Nor  were  those  of  the  following 
year  much  more  effective.  In  this  campaign  Gen- 
eral Sully  led  an  expedition  from  Fort  Rice  on  the 
Missouri  to  Fort  Union  on  the  Yellowstone,  the 
whole  march  covering  1625  miles.  His  column  in- 
cluded a  Minnesota  brigade  made  up  of  six  com- 


SEQUEL  TO  THE  INDIAN  WAR  237 

paniea  of  the  Eighth  mounted  on  Indian  ponies, 
the  Second  Minnesota  cavalry,  a  new  regiment 
recruited  to  take  the  place  of  the  First  Mounted 
Rangers,  two  sections  of  the  Third  Minnesota  Bat- 
tery of  Light  Artillery,  and  a  company  of  scouts. 
Brackett's  battalion  of  three  companies  of  Minne- 
sota cavalry  was  attached  to  another  brigade.  On 
July  28  the  considerable  battle  of  Killdeer  Moun- 
tain on  the  Little  Missouri  River  took  place.  Count- 
less herds  of  buffalo  were  met  with  on  this  march. 
As  long  as  these  survived,  and  the  Indians  could 
supply  themselves  with  horses  and  ammunition, 
no  white  man's  army  could  surround  and  destroy 
them. 

To  disabuse  the  reader  of  the  possible  impression 
that  the  people  of  Minnesota  were  more  frightened 
than  they  had  reason  to  be,  he  is  asked  to  recur  to 
the  season  of  1863.  To  guard  the  frontier  from  at- 
tacks of  marauding  parties  of  Indians,  General  Sib- 
ley left  in  the  state  the  Eighth  Infantry,  which  had 
already  been  distributed  in  a  line  of  posts  to  cover 
the  settlements.  Despite  its  vigilant  patrols,  parties 
of  savages  broke  through  at  various  points.  In  April 
there  were  three  murders  in  Watonwan  County, 
household  goods  and  provisions  were  seized,  and 
cattle  and  horses  run  off.  In  .Tune  a  squad  of  Com- 
pany A  of  the  Eighth  chased  a  horse-stealing  gang 
out  of  Meeker  County,  one  of  whom  shot  Captain 
John  S.  Cody,  causing  instant  death.  In  the  course 
of  the  summer  the  Eiirhth  Minnesota  lost  more  men 


238  MINNESOTA 

killed  and  wounded  than  Sibley's  troops  in  all  his 
battles.  On  the  29th  of  June  the  most  atrocious 
murder  of  the  season  was  committed  within  thirty 
miles  of  Minneapolis,  near  Watertown,  Carver 
County.  Amos  Dustin,  traveling  by  wagon  with 
his  family,  was  waylaid,  and  he  and  his  aged  mo- 
ther instantly  shot  to  death  by  arrows.  His  wife 
and  one  child  were  fearfully  wounded.  A  girl  of 
six,  hiding  under  a  seat,  was  not  discovered.  Her 
clothing  was  soaked  with  her  father's  blood.  To  aid 
the  troops  in  protecting  life  and  property.  Governor 
Swift  organized  a  company  of  volunteer  scouts  and 
put  them  under  the  command  of  Captain  James 
Sturgis  of  Wright  County.  In  addition  to  their 
promised  pay,  the  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars  was 
offered  to  any  scout  bringing  in  a  Sioux  scalp.  This 
command  scouted  the  big  woods  from  Sauk  Center 
to  the  .Minnesota  River  so  effectively  that  people 
who  had  abandoned  their  homes  and  farms  took 
heart  and  ventured  back. 

On  the  3d  of  July,  1863,  a  citizen  of  Hutchinson, 
Nathan  Sampson,  was  hunting  some  five  miles  to 
the  north  of  that  village,  accompanied  by  his  son 
Chauncey.  Espying  an  Indian  picking  berries,  he 
fired.  Though  wounded,  the  Indian  returned  the 
fire,  and  hit  Mr.  Sampson  in  the  left  shoulder. 
A  shot  from  the  young  man's  rifle  proved  fatal  to 
the  savage.  That  Indian  was  believed  to  be  Little 
Crow,  and  a  certain  deformity  of  the  wrists  from 
a  gunshot  in  early  life  was  probably  sufficient  evi- 


SEQUEL  TO  THE  INDIAN   WAR  239 

dence  of  his  identity.  A  half-starved  Indian  boy 
was  picked  up  by  a  detachment  of  Sibley's  army  in 
North  Dakota  on  July  28,  who  gave  his  name  as 
Wo-i-non-pa ;  he  said  that  he  was  a  son  of  Little 
Crow,  and  that  he  was  with  his  father  when  he  was 
killed.  The  errand  of  tlie  chief,  according  to  the 
boy,  was  to  capture  horses  enough  to  mount  the 
small  remnant  of  his  warriors  and  ride  away  to 
Canada. 

The  Seventh,  Ninth,  and  Tenth  regiments  were 
dispatched  to  the  South  in  the  fall  of  18G3 ;  the 
Sixth  and  Eighth  being  held  till  the  following  sea- 
son to  keep  watch  and  ward  against  possible  and 
much-feared  savage  forays. 


•        CHAPTER  XIV 

HONORS   OF  WAR 

The  reader  who  desires  to  follow  the  marches  and 
battles  of  the  Minnesota  regiments  and  battalions 
is  advised  to  resort  to  the  two  large  octavos  pub- 
lished by  the  state  in  1891.  It  would,  however,  be 
unjust  to  him  and  to  Minnesota  not  to  give  some 
account,  even  in  a  compend  of  her  history,  of  cer- 
tain splendid  passages  in  the  careers  of  some  of 
them  favored  above  others  in  opportunity. 

Marching  with  Gibbon's  Division  of  the  Second 
(Hancock's)  Army  Corps,  the  First  Minnesota  ar- 
rived on  the  field  of  Gettysburg  early  in  the  morn- 
ing of  July  2, 1863,  and  was  placed  in  reserve  near 
general  headquarters.  Company  L  (sharpshooters) 
was  sent  to  support  a  battery  and  did  not  rejoin 
till  after  the  battle.  In  the  afternoon  a  staff  officer 
came  and  led  the  command  off  to  the  south,  along 
the  well-known  crest  on  which  Sickles's  men  had 
formed  and  from  which  they  had  made  their  ill- 
advised  advance.  On  a  salient  of  the  ridge  near 
the  middle  of  Sickles's  original  formation  the  regi- 
ment was  placed  in  support  of  a  regular  battery. 
Company  F  was  sent  out  to  skirmish  toward  the 
left  front,  and  Company  C  was  absent  on  provost 


HONORS  OF  WAR  241 

guard  duty.  Eight  companies  were  in  line,  with 
two  hundred  and  sixty-two  officers  and  men.  From 
their  position  they  watched  at  leisure  the  vain 
struggles  of  Sickles's  brigades,  exposed  to  enfilad- 
ing: fires.  Near  sundown  the  shattered  battalions 
straggled  to  the  rear,  passing  through  the  ranks 
of  the  Minnesota  regiment.  They  were  followed 
by  Anderson's  division  of  A.  P.  Hill's  Confederate 
corps,  moving  with  rapid  pace  to  what  seemed  cer- 
tain victory.  Sickles  was  severely  wounded  and 
Hancock  had  command. 

He  had  ordered  reserve  troops  to  man  the  unde- 
fended crest,  but  they  did  not  arrive.  The  Confed- 
erate line  was  striding  on,  and  in  ten  minutes 
would  swarm  over  the  ridge.  It  was  not  more  than 
four  hundred  yards  away  when  Hancock  espied  the 
little  bunch  of  men  in  blue  near  the  battery. 
Hiding  up  to  Colonel  William  Colville  at  his  post 
near  the  centre,  he  asked,  "  What  regiment  is 
this?"  "The  First  Minnesota,"  was  the  reply. 
"  Charge  those  lines,"  ordered  the  corps  com- 
mander, pointing  to  the  rebel  front.  Without  delay 
Colville  put  his  line  in  motion,  down  the  slope  of 
an  old  pasture  field  at  the  bottom  of  which  was  a 
dried  up  ditch  or  "  run."  It  moved  at  the  double- 
quick  till  near  the  foot  of  the  slope,  when  Colville 
ordered,  "  Charge  bayonets !  "  On  a  full  run,  the 
Minnesota  men  struck  the  Confederates  as  they 
were  reforminfr  on  the  hither  side  of  the  run.  The 
shock  halted  them  and  the  fire  poured  in  gave  them 


242  MINNESOTA 

good  reason  for  no  further  acquaintance  with  the 
men  in  blue.  They  sought  cover  behind  an  accom- 
modatinir  swell  of  land  and  retired  from  the  field. 
Brigadier-General  Wilcox  of  the  Confederate  army 
in  his  report  says :  "  A  line  of  infantry  descended 
the  slope  in  our  front  at  double-quick.  Without 
support  my  men  were  withdrawn  to  prevent  their 
entire  destruction  or  capture." 

Of  the  men  who  joined  in  that  fatal  but  neces- 
sary charge  but  forty-seven  answered  to  roll-call  at 
retreat ;  two  hundred  and  fifteen  lay  dead,  dying, 
or  wounded.  A  high  authority  declares  this  to  be 
the  heaviest  loss  known  in  the  records  of  modern 
war.  But  that  charge  saved  Cemetery  Eidge,  and 
in  all  probability  the  Gettysburg  field. 

"  The  Second  Minnesota  Veteran  Volunteer  In- 
fantry occupied  this  position,  Sunday,  September 
26,  1863,  from  2 :  30  p.  m.  to  7 :  30  p.  M."  Such  is 
the  inscription  on  the  monument  of  bronze  and 
granite  erected  at  the  state's  expense  on  the  "  Snod- 
grass  ridge  "  in  the  National  Park  at  Chickamauga, 
Tennessee.  It  marks  the  spot  occupied  by  that  regi- 
ment as  part  of  the  force  with  which  Thomas, 
"  The  Rock  of  Chickamauga,"  held  at  bay  Long- 
street's  elated  divisions,  while  Rosecrans's  army, 
broken  and  shattered,  was  in  disorderly  retreat  on 
Chattanooga.  The  Second  lost  35  killed  and  113 
wounded  out  of  a  total  for  duty  of  384 ;  not  a 
sincfle  man  was  missing:. 

Under  a  new  commander  the  Union  armies  con- 


HONORS  OF  WAR  243 

centrated  at  Chattanooga  were  soon  to  recover  the 
ground  and  prestige  lost  by  his  brave  but  unfortu- 
nate predecessor.  Grant,  sending  Hooker  to  occupy 
Lookout  Mountain  on  his  right  and  Sherman  to 
the  left  to  double  up  Bragg's  extended  line,  placed 
the  army  of  the  Cumberland  in  his  centre  under 
Thomas.  A  rumor  spread  up  and  down  the  lines  of 
that  army  that  it  was  merely  paraded  to  amuse  the 
enemy  while  Hooker  and  Sherman  should  show 
it  how  to  fight.  At  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
of  November  2-1  the  centre  moved  forward  to  the 
base  of  Missionary  Ridge.  After  a  short  pause  here 
the  whole  line,  as  it  is  told,  without  orders,  broke 
out  and  swarmed  up  the  hillside  and  over  the  ene- 
my's intrenchments  in  the  face  of  a  galling  fire 
of  artillery  and  musketry. 

The  Second  Minnesota,  led  by  Lieutenant-Colo- 
nel (afterwards  Brigadier-General)  J.  \V.  Bishop, 
deployed  as  skirmishers,  led  its  brigade  to  the  foot 
of  the  ridge,  where  it  joined  in  the  scramble  for 
the  crest.  It  lost  eight  men  killed  and  thirty-one 
wounded.  Six  out  of  seven  members  of  the  color 
guard  fell. 

The  Third  Minnesota,  after  participating  in  the 
"  Arkansas  Expedition  "  which  resulted  in  the  oc- 
cupation of  Little  Rock,  remained  thereabout  till 
the  close  of  its  term.  Among  the  numerous  affairs 
in  which  it  was  engaged  was  one  which  is  rightly 
dignified  as  "  the  battle  of  Fitzhugh's  woods."  The 
commander,  Colonel    (afterwards    Biigadier-Gen- 


244  MINNESOTA 

eral)  C.  C.  Andrews  here  displayed  a  tactical 
ability  worthy  of  a  wider  field.  The  regiment  suf- 
fered greatly  from  malarial  disease. 

It  was  not  the  fortune  of  the  Fourth  Minnesota  to 
be  decimated  in  any  one  engagement.  Its  heaviest 
loss,  thirteen  killed  and  thirty-one  wounded,  was  in 
its  participation  in  the  heroic  defense  of  the  post 
at  Altoona,  Georgia,  when  a  force  numbering  less 
than  two  thousand  stood  off  repeated  charges  of  a 
Confederate  division  of  seven  thousand.  Several 
men  of  the  Fourth  whose  term  of  enlistment  had 
expired  shared  in  the  battle,  and  of  them  some  were 
numbered  with  the  dead. 

The  gallant  behavior  of  the  men  of  the  Fifth 
Minnesota  and  Colonel  Hubbard's  instant  percep- 
tion of  the  proper  line  of  action  at  Corinth  on  Oc- 
tober 4, 1862,  have  already  been  related.  It  was  the 
fortune  of  this  command,  together  with  the  Seventh, 
Ninth,  and  Tenth  Minnesota  Infantry  regiments, 
to  share  in  the  glory  of  the  battle  which  destroyed 
the  Confederate  power  in  the  Mississippi  valley. 

Thomas,  commanding  at  Nashville,  Tennessee, 
on  December  15, 1803,  delivered  a  blow  on  Hood's 
left  wing  which  caused  that  commander  to  retire 
to  a  position  on  a  range  of  hills  two  miles  to  the 
south,  admirably  chosen,  and  capable  of  effective 
intrenchment.  The  attempt  made  soon  after  noon 
of  the  16th  to  crush  the  right  of  Hood's  army 
on  Overton  Hill  had  no  result  but  the  loss  of  many 
brave  men.   McArthur's  division  was  then  ordered 


HONORS  OF  WAR  245 

to  assault  the  Confederate  left,  strongly  posted  be- 
hind a  breastwork  revetted  by  a  stone  wall.  The 
first  brigade  was  put  in  motion  as  if  to  make  the 
principal  charge.  The  Minnesota  regiments  were 
in  the  front  line  of  the  second  and  third  brigades, 
commanded  respectively  by  Hubbard  and  Marshall. 
Observing  the  movement,  these  commanders  at  once 
ordered  their  brigades  forward,  and  away  they  went 
over  a  muddy  cornfield,  up  a  slope  covered  with 
boulders  and  obstructed  by  stone  walls,  ditches, 
and  rail  fences.  Without  halt  or  interruption,  under 
a  heavy  front  and  cross  fire,  the  lines  pressed  on, 
and  stormed  over  the  enemy's  intrenchment,  captur- 
ing the  defenders,  with  guns  and  colors.  A  general 
charge  of  the  whole  line  now  put  the  entire  Con- 
federate army  to  rout  and  ended  the  war  in  the 
West. 

The  Minnesota  regiments  suffered  a  loss  of  three 
hundred  in  the  charge.  Jennison,  lieutenant-colonel 
commanding  the  Tenth,  received  a  severe  wound,  as 
he  led  his  battalion  over  the  works.  Hubbard  had 
three  horses  shot  under  him,  and  was  wounded. 
The  colors  of  the  Fifth  were  three  times  shot  down. 
Captain  Sheehan  (hero  of  Fort  Kidgely)  picked 
them  up  and  saw  them  planted  on  the  stone  wall. 
Marshall  and  Hubbard  were  both  bre vetted  as 
brigadiers,  and  both  afterwards  became  governors 
of  Minnesota. 

The  Sixth  Minnesota,  occupied  in  the  Indian 
war,  was  not  sent  south  till  July,  18G4,  when  it  took 


24(5  MINNESOTA 

station  at  Helena,  Arkansas.  Here  malarial  poison, 
far  more  fatal  than  the  gun-fire  of  the  enemy, 
attacked  officers  and  men.  During  the  four  and  one 
half  months  of  its  service  here,  six  hundred  men  of 
this  regiment  were  sent  to  the  Northern  hospitals. 
On  August  7  there  were  but  seven  officers  and  one 
hundred  and  seventy-eight  men  for  duty.  By  the 
time  the  sick  had  recovered,  the  war  was  substan- 
tially over.  But  their  division  commander  at  the 
capture  of  Fort  Blakely,  April  9,  18G5,  thanked  in 
orders  the  brave  officers  and  men  for  their  gallantry 
in  the  daring  charge  to  which  the  fall  of  the  fort 
was  due. 

The  First  Minnesota  w-as  the  only  one  which 
served  its  whole  term  east  of  the  Alleghanies.  The 
Fourth  and  Eighth  reached  salt  water  in  the  last 
months  of  the  war.  All  the  other  Minnesota  troops 
remained  in  the  West. 

It  was  not  easy  for  Minnesota  to  respond  to  the 
calls  of  the  nation  for  recruits  in  the  last  years 
of  the  war.  Some  2700  volunteers  were  sent  to  fill 
the  ranks  of  the  old  regiments,  but  these  were  not 
enough.  The  draft  enforced  in  May  and  September, 
1864,  was,  as  elsewhere,  a  farce:  14,274  names 
were  listed ;  the  exemptions  left  2768  liable  for 
service ;  2497  failed  to  report,  and  two  deserted. 
The  remaining  number  of  269,  increased  by  282 
substitutes,  in  all  651,  were  mustered  into  service. 
There  remained  the  resource  of  raising  additional 
regiments  not  likely  to  be  exposed  in  deadly  battle. 


HONORS   OF   WAR  217 

By  promises  of  commissions  to  gentlemen  who  should 
recruit  the  companies,  two  strong  regiments  were 
raised  :  the  Eleventh  Infantry,  1000  strong,  and 
the  First  Minnesota  Heavy  Artillery,  1760  officers 
and  men.  These  commands  were  sent  to  Tennessee 
late  in  18G4,  where  they  relieved  veteran  troops  for 
active  service. 

By  the  month  of  September,  18G5,  all  the  Min- 
nesota troops  had  been  mustered  out  except  one 
battery  and  three  cavalry  battalions  engaged  on  the 
Indian  frontier.  The  whole  number  of  men  fur- 
nished by  Minnesota  was  22,01G.  Only  the  people 
who  lived  through  that  war  period  can  fully  appre- 
ciate the  sacrifices  and  privations  undergone. 

The  two  conflicts,  —  the  Civil  AYar  and  the  In- 
dian war,  —  occupying  the  minds  of  the  pe()])le  of 
Minnesota  for  four  years,  naturally  overshadowed 
all  other  interests.  The  Democratic  party  long  in 
control  of  her  public  affairs,  depleted  by  the  de- 
sertion of  thousands  of  young  men  to  the  ranks 
of  the  more  obtrusively  ])atriotic  Republican  or- 
ganization, was  left  so  reduced  in  numbers  as  to  be 
powerless  in  state  and  national  politics.  The  re- 
election of  Governor  Ramsey  in  the  fall  of  1801 
was  a  foregone  conclusion.  If  the  Republicans  were 
relieved  from  competition  with  a  powerful  opposi- 
tion they  found  plenty  of  it  between  the  factions 
which  arose  in  their  own  camp.  At  the  first,  how- 
ever, they  were  none  too  sure  of  carrying  a  suffi- 


248  MINNESOTA 

cient  number  of  election  precincts  and  therefore  felt 
justified  in  resorting  to  a  procedure  never  antici- 
pated by  the  framers  of  the  state  constitution.  The 
legislature   in    the    special  session  of   September, 

1862,  by  a  statute  duly  approved,  provided  against 
the  disfranchisement  of  those  citizens  who  at  the 
time  of  election  should  be  absent  in  the  military 
service.  The  plan  adopted  was  that  of  sending  com- 
missioners to  the  camps  to  open  polls  and  receive 
the  ballots  of  soldiers  who  were,  or  claimed  to  be, 
qualified  electors.  These  ballots  they  sealed  up 
and  transmitted  by  mail  to  the  judges  of  election 
at  the  respective  residences  of  the  absentee  voters. 
The  scheme  was  carried  out  with  the  expected  re- 
sult of  sufficient  Republican  majorities.  William 
Windom  was  easily  reelected  representative  in  the 
first  congressional  district,  and  Ignatius  Donnelly, 
the  lieutenant-governor,  got  his  first  election  in  the 
second.  The  state  was  not  yet  entitled  to  more  than 
two  representatives.  Much  greater  interest,  how- 
ever, centred  in  the  election  of  a  legislature  for 

1863,  which  would  have  before  it  the  choice  of  a 
United  States  senator  to  succeed  Henry  M.  Rice, 
whose  term  was  to  expire.  Governor  Ramsey  was 
the  losrical  candidate,  and  he  did  not  affect  indif- 
ference  to  the  promotion.  The  other  principal  aspi- 
rant was  Cyrus  Aldrich  of  Minneapolis,  who  had 
been  representing  the  second  district  in  Congress 
in  a  very  acceptable  manner.  Mr.  Aldrich's  legis- 
lative experience  in  Minnesota  and  another  state 


HONORS   OF  WAR  249 

warranted  his  friends  in  promoting  his  candidacy. 
These  formed  a  body  which  in  a  later  day  would 
have  been  designated  as  "stalwart"  Republicans; 
they  were  dissatisfied  with  the  alleged  inertia  of 
Lincoln's  administration,  and  desired  the  libera- 
tion of  the  Southern  slaves  and  the  prosecution  of 
the  war  with  greater  energy.  JVIr.  Ramsey,  by  his 
nature  conservative,  stood  by  the  administration. 

The  first  trial  of  strength  came  ofif  in  the  Repub- 
lican legislative  caucus  held  immediately  after 
organization,  early  in  January,  1863.  The  number 
of  votes  was  forty-six,  and  twenty-four  votes  were 
necessary  to  the  choice.  On  the  first  balloting  Mr. 
Ramsey  received  but  nineteen  votes,  and  then 
twenty  votes  for  nineteen  successive  ballotiugs. 
Fortunately  "  the  field  "was  rigidly  divided.  On 
the  twenty-fourth  balloting,  twenty-three  votes  were 
cast  for  Ramsey,  and  the  caucus  adjourned  with 
little  expectation  of  further  changes.  A  final  trial, 
however,  gave  twenty-six  votes  and  assured  the  elec- 
tion of  Governor  Ramsey  by  the  houses  in  joint 
convention  on  January  14. 

Although  his  senatorial  term  began  March  4, 1863, 
Governor  Ramsey  remained  in  office  till  July,  when 
he  retired  to  attend  an  extra  session  (of  the  Senate). 
Lieutenant-Governor  Donnelly  had  resigned  at  the 
close  of  the  legislative  session  of  1863,  and  the  state 
senate  had  elected  as  their  president  pro  tc77ij)ore, 
the  Hon.  Henry  A.  Swift  of  St.  Peter.  Under  con- 
stitutional provision  Mr.  Swift  became  lieutenant- 


250  MINNESOTA 

governor  in  room  of  Mr.  Donnelly,  and  on  July  10 
(1863)  governor,  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Kamsey. 
Governor  Swift  held  the  office  for  the  remaining 
six  months  of  Ramsey's  term,  making  no  effort  to 
succeed  himself.  Contemporaries  speak  of  him  as 
a  man  of  singularly  amiable  character,  prefer- 
ring a  quiet  life  among  his  neighbors  to  the  excite- 
ments of  the  capital.  He  was  succeeded  in  office  by 
General  Stephen  Miller,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
who  came  to  the  state  in  1858  and  made  his  home 
in  St.  Cloud.  He  had  been  an  ardent  supporter  of 
Mr.  Ramsey,  who  was  not  indifferent  to  his  claims 
upon  him.  Upon  the  organization  of  the  First  Min- 
nesota Infantry  Mr.  Miller  received  the  appoint- 
ment of  lieutenant-colonel.  He  devoted  himself 
with  such  fidelity  to  military  studies  and  exercises 
that  he  soon  became  sufficiently  expert,  and  at  Bull 
Run,  Fair  Oaks,  and  other  engagements  proved 
beyond  question  his  personal  courage.  Such  was 
his  modesty,  however,  that  when  the  colonelcy  of 
the  First  became  vacant,  a  first,  second,  and  even 
third  time  he  preferred  to  have  it  filled  by  experi- 
enced regular  officers.  After  the  Seventh  Regi- 
ment was  formed  Governor  Ramsey  was  pleased 
to  make  him  its  colonel.  When  General  Sibley 
in  the  late  fall  of  1862  left  the  front  to  assume 
command  of  his  district  he  devolved  immediate 
command  on  Colonel  Miller.  During  the  general's 
absence  in  the  campaign  to  the  Missouri  in  1863 
Colonel  Miller  remained  at  St.  Paul  In  command 


HONORS  OF  WAR  251 

of  the  district.  Nominated  and  elected  as  governor 
in  the  fall  of  that  year  and  honored  with  the  brevet 
rank  of  brigadier-general,  Colonel  Miller  resigned 
to  take  up  his  civil  duties.  In  the  first  year  of  his 
service  he  was  chiefly  employed  in  filling  up  the 
state's  quota  in  the  armies  of  the  Union  ;  and  he 
was  so  much  grieved  and  disgusted  with  the  be- 
havior of  those  drafted  men  who  did  not  report  for 
duty  that  he  seriously  recommended  that  the  con- 
stitution be  so  amended  as  to  visit  any  such  "  base 
and  cowardly  conduct "  in  the  future  with  disfran- 
chisement and  confiscation. 

While  the  governorship  of  Minnesota  has  from 
the  beginning  been  regarded  as  a  most  honorable 
position,  the  chief  prize  to  be  won  in  her  political 
battles  has  been  the  United  States  senatorship. 
Around  this  the  successive  contests  have  been  hot 
and  fierce.  One  of  these  occurred  in  the  winter  of 
1865.  Senator  Morton  A.  Wilkinson  had  cut  no 
inconsiderable  figure  at  the  seat  of  government, 
and  had  so  won  the  confidence  of  President  Lincoln 
that  he  wrote  an  open  letter  recommending  a  re- 
election. Mr.  Wilkinson,  however,  had  not  retained 
to  a  sufficient  degree  the  allegiance  of  Republican 
leaders  at  home.  It  was  alleged  that  he  had  allowed 
his  colleague.  Senator  liiee,  to  obtain  an  undue 
share  of  good  things.  Whether  true  or  not,  this 
was  an  unpardonable  offense,  and  Mr.  Wilkinson's 
friends  found  themselves,  after  many  ballotings  in 
caucus,  in  a  hopeless  minority.  In  the  field  against 


252  MINNESOTA 

him  was  Mr.  Rice,  and  there  is  a  tradition  that  the 
nomination  might  have  fallen  to  him  had  he  been 
willing  to  exchange  the  colors  of  War  Democrat 
for  those  of  Kepublican.  He  had  been  loyal  and 
ardent  in  support  of  the  Union  cause. 

As  the  result  of  repeated  ballotings,  and  a  com- 
bination difficult  of  analysis,  the  nomination  fell 
to  Daniel  A.  Norton  of  Winona,  who  had  gained 
some  distinction  as  a  member  of  the  state  senate. 
When  President  Andrew  Johnson  went  over  to  the 
opposition  fold,  Mr.  Norton  followed  him.  His 
career  was  necessarily  obscure,  and  he  died  in  office 
in  1870. 

In  spite  of  the  absence  of  a  large  proportion  of 
her  men  of  working  age  and  capacity  in  the  armies ; 
in  spite  of  the  Indian  ravages  of  1862  and  the  fears 
of  others  which  happily  did  not  come ;  in  spite  of 
the  tardy  extension  of  railroads,  the  war  period  was 
one  of  advance  for  Minnesota.  Her  population  of 
172,023  in  1860  arose,  according  to  the  state  cen- 
sus of  1865,  to  250,099,  an  increase  of  forty-five 
per  cent.  The  accessions  were  greatest  in  the  river 
counties,  and  next  in  those  lying  immediately  be- 
yond. High  prices  for  farm  produce  in  paper 
money  enabled  the  farmers  to  wipe  out  their  debts 
and  improve  their  homes. 

The  homestead  act  of  1862  contributed  not  a 
little  to  the  extension  of  settlements  in  the  state. 
The  original  bill  for  that  act,  passed  in  1860  after 
bitter  opposition  from  Southern  senators  and  repre- 


HONORS  OF  WAR  263 

sentatives,  had  been  vetoed  by  President  Buchanan 
on  the  ground  that  the  government  had  no  power 
under  the  constitution  to  give  away  property  of  the 
people  held  by  it  in  trust.  Cyrus  Aldrich,  one  of 
Minnesota's  members,  introduced  and  actively  sup- 
ported the  later  bill,  which  became  law  on  February 
28,  1862,  and  took  effect  January  8,  18G3.  In  the 
three  years  following,  9529  homestead  entries  were 
made  in  Minnesota,  thirty-six  per  cent,  of  the  whole 
number.  There  can  be  no  question  that  the  opera- 
tion of  the  homestead  act  was  beneficial  so  long  as 
confined  to  arable  lands.  The  use  made  of  its  pro- 
visions in  later  years  to  obtain  possession  of  timber 
and  mineral  lands  by  processes  morally,  if  not  tech- 
nically, criminal,  depriving  the  nation  and  states  of 
untold  millions  of  value,  gives  room  for  regret  that 
President  Buchanan's  judgment  had  not  governed 
his  successor. 


CHAPTER  XV 

REVIVAL 

It  was  to  be  expected  that,  upon  the  anticipated 
retirement  of  Governor  Miller,  the  most  prominent 
among  the  founders  of  the  Republican  party  in 
Minnesota,  General  William  R.  Marshall,  who 
had  added  a  highly  honorable  military  career  to  his 
civil  record,  would  be  called  to  succeed.  And  he 
was ;  but  not  without  opposition  from  other  gentle- 
men who  had  also  distinguished  themselves  in  both 
civil  and  military  duties.  It  took  twenty-two  ballot- 
ings  in  the  Republican  convention  to  secure  his 
nomination.  At  the  polls  he  met  that  veteran  of 
Democracy,  the  Hon.  Henry  M.  Rice,  whose  popu- 
larity, especially  among  "  old  Territorians,"  was  so 
great  as  to  reduce  his  majority  to  less  than  3500  in 
a  total  of  31,000  votes.  He  took  office  in  January, 
1866,  and  so  commended  himself  by  a  judicious 
practical  administration  that  his  reelection  in  the 
fall  of  the  following  year  was  but  formally  con- 
tested. Mr.  Rice  closed  his  political  career  with 
the  campaign  of  1865,  which  he  survived  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century. 

Marshall's  double  term  was  a  period  of  recovery 
and  repair  after  the  exhaustion  of  the  wars ;  and 


REVIVAL  265 

it  was  something  more.  Neither  the  people  severally 
nor  the  state  were  heavily  burdened  with  debt,  and 
there  was  work  for  all  and  good  prices  for  produce. 
Railroad  building  was  continued  on  a  scale  of  a  few 
more  than  one  hundred  miles  a  year.  In  1867  the 
line  now  known  as  the  Iowa  and  jSIinnesota  Divi- 
sion of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul  Rail- 
road, begun  at  both  ends,  was  completed,  and  trains 
were  put  on  from  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  to 
Prairie  du  Chien,  whence  rail  connection  eastward 
already  existed.  Minnesota  was  now  in  the  great 
world  all  the  year  round.  No  important  terminals 
were  reached  by  additions  to  other  lines,  although 
seven  hundred  and  sixty-six  miles  had  been  con- 
structed by  the  close  of  the  decade. 

The  development  of  the  common  schools  of  iMin- 
nesota  was  tardy.  The  act  of  1851,  providing  for 
a  state  system,  created  the  office  of  superintendent 
of  public  instruction,  but  attached  only  a  nominal 
salary  to  it.  Four  persons  were  appointed  in  as 
many  years,  whose  duties  seem  to  have  been  con- 
fined to  making  formal  annual  reports.  From  185G 
to  18G0  the  office  was  virtually,  if  not  technicall3% 
vacant.  The  legislature  of  1860  devolved  the  duties 
upon  the  titular  chancellor  of  the  university,  the 
Rev.  Edward  Duffield  Neill,  who  held  it  till  April 
29,  1861,  when  he  resigned  to  take  the  chaplaincy 
of  the  First  Minnesota  Infantry,  leaving  the  office 
to  a  competitor  for  that  position.  In  the  legislative 
session  of  1862  the  school  laws  were  revised  and 


256  MINNESOTA 

the  secretary  of  state  was  made  ex-officio  state  su- 
perintendent. This  absurd  arrangement  continued 
for  five  years,  against  the  advice  of  the  two  gentle- 
men who  hekl  the  double  office. 

Governor  Marshall  informed  the  legislature  of 
18G7  that  the  children  of  school  age  in  the  state 
were  over  a  hundred  thousand,  and  that  the  school 
fund  had  grown  to  nearly  a  million  and  a  half. 
Upon  his  earnest  recommendation  the  office  of  state 
superintendent  was  reestablished,  with  a  salary 
more  than  nominal,  but  inadequate.  He  appointed 
Mark  H.  Dunnell  of  Owatonna,  a  young  lawyer 
who  had  been  successful  as  a  teacher  in  his  native 
state  of  Maine. 

Mr.  Dunnell  threw  himself  into  his  duties  with 
great  enthusiasm  and  industry.  He  gathered  the 
teachers  into  "  institutes  "  for  pedagogical  instruc- 
tion and  raised  the  standard  of  qualification  for 
certificates.  A  state  teachers'  association  was  or- 
ganized to  stimulate  pride  in  the  teaching  profes- 
sion and  provide  for  interchange  of  ideas  and  ex- 
periences. It  is  notable  that  Mr.  Dunnell  as  late 
as  1869  thought  it  necessary  to  argue  in  behalf  of 
a  public  school  system  free  from  religious  dogma 
or  discipline.  The  organization  of  high  schools  in 
the  leading  towns  had  already  discouraged  the 
proprietors  of  numerous  denominational  academies 
and  seminaries  desirous  of  holding  the  secondary 
field. 

In  1858  a  bill  had  been  worked  through  the  first 


REVIVAL  257 

state  legislature  to  establish  three  normal  schools, 
one  at  Winona  as  soon  as  practicable  after  pas- 
sage, the  others  at  times  to  be  later  determined. 
This  bill  was  fathered  by  Dr.  John  W.  Ford  of 
Winona,  an  enthusiast  in  the  cause  of  professional 
education  for  teachers.  So  little  was  known  in  the 
longitude  of  Minnesota  of  what  a  "  normal  school  " 
might  be,  that  it  is  not  strange  that  the  friends  of 
the  bill  got  more  credit  in  the  newspapers  and 
among  the  people  for  securing  a  state  institution 
for  each  of  three  towns  than  for  zeal  in  the  cause 
of  education.  Six  years  passed  before  a  beginning 
was  made  in  the  first  state  normal  school  at  Winona, 
under  the  charge  of  William  F.  Phelps,  an  Oswego 
graduate.  No  man  less  confident  of  the  righteous- 
ness of  his  cause,  nor  less  willing  to  fight  a  bitter 
opposition,  could  have  built  up  a  school  for  teach- 
ers which  has  served  as  model  for  many  othei's  in 
Minnesota  and  other  states.  The  second  state  nor- 
mal school  was  opened  in  Mankato  in  1868  ;  the 
third  in  St.  Cloud  in  the  next  year. 

The  "  wing  and  extension  "  of  tlie  great  building 
planned  for  the  territorial  regents  of  the  university 
in  1856,  and  built  in  that  year  and  the  next,  stood 
empty  for  ten  years,  except  that  at  different  times 
private  teachers  were  allowed  to  hold  their  classes 
in  some  of  the  rooms.  The  legislature  of  1858  au- 
thorized the  regents  to  borrow  '$40,000  and  issue 
ten  per  cent,  bonds  in  evidence  of  debt.  These  se- 
curities were  negotiated  in  New  York  after  great 


258  MINNESOTA 

effort  and  at  a  ruinous  discount.  The  claim  was 
later  made  that  they  could  not  have  been  disposed 
of  at  all  had  they  not  been  improperly  represented 
to  be  virtually  bonds  of  the  state.  The  proceeds 
released  the  regents  from  obligations  which  they 
had  personally  assumed  and  satisfied  a  portion  of 
the  creditors. 

The  Republican  legislature  of  1860  thought  it 
time  to  oust  the  "  old  Democratic  board  "  and  in- 
stall a  new  administration.  The  new  "  state  board," 
consisting  of  three  members  ex-qfficiis  and  five  ap- 
pointed, had  nothing  to  report  to  the  next  session 
but  a  debt  of  $93,500,  including  18000  of  over- 
due interest.  Their  recommendation  was  that  the 
land  grant  be  turned  over  to  the  creditors,  the 
campus  and  building  being  retained.  An  act  of 
Congress  of  March  2,  1861,  donating  to  the  state 
the  university  lands  "  reserved  "  for  the  territorial 
university,  rendered  such  action  feasible. 

Governor  Ramsey  could  make  no  other  sugges- 
tion to  the  legislature  of  1862,  and  that  body  con- 
ferred the  desired  authority.  In  1862  wild  lands 
were  a  drug  in  the  market.  "  Pine  "  would  not  go 
at  four  dollars  an  acre.  The  regents  reported  to 
the  legislature  of  1863  that  the  creditors  were  not 
disposed  to  accept  "  equitable  terms."  That  legis- 
lature did  not  formally  dissolve  the  corporation, 
but  ordered  the  regents  to  turn  over  to  the  state 
auditor,  as  state  land  commissioner,  all  the  lands, 
buildings,  and  appurtenances.    This  was  accord- 


REVIVAL  259 

ingly  done,  and  the  University  of  Minnesota  ex- 
isted only  in  supposition. 

After  the  midsummer  of  1863  matters  were 
looking  up  in  Minnesota.  The  victories  of  Vicks- 
burg  and  Gettysburg  gave  hope  of  an  early  return 
of  peace.  Money  was  plentiful  and  prices  were 
rising.  Notwithstanding  tlie  homestead  law,  there 
was  a  market  for  well-situated  public  land.  John 
S.  Pillsbury  of  St.  Anthony  had  been  appointed 
to  a  vacancy  in  the  board  of  regents  in  November 
of  that  year,  and  immediately  applied  his  remark- 
able business  talent  to  the  university  affairs.  His 
conclusions  were  embodied  in  a  bill  introduced 
into  the  state  senate  of  1864,  of  which  he  was  a 
member.  Enacted  into  law  March  4,  the  bill  cre- 
ated a  special  board  of  three  regents :  John  S. 
Pillsbury,  Orlando  C.  Merriman,  a  lawyer  of  St. 
Anthony,  and  John  Nicols,  a  merchant  of  St.  Paul, 
also  a  state  senator.  i^This  board  was  authorized  to 
sell  land  to  the  amount  of  twelve  thousand  acres 
and  use  the  proceeds  in  "extricating"  the  institu- 
tion. Taking  advantage  of  a  time  of  general  liqui- 
dation and  scaling  down,  they  bought  in  claims  of 
many  creditors  at  thirty-three  per  cent,  of  their 
face.  The  bondholders,  satisfied  at  length  that  they 
had  no  recourse  upon  the  state,  moderated  their 
demands  and  consented  to  "equitable  terms"  of 
adjustment.  In  this  way  a  "  great  state  "  redeemed 
the  bonds  it  had  authorized  by  law,  and  canceled 
a  body  of  debts  proiiouuccd  by  the  regents  of  1860 
to  be  "honestly  due." J 


2G0  MINNESOTA 

It  took  two  years  to  accomplish  this  "  extrica- 
tion," so  that  the  legislature  of  18G7  was  ready  to 
make  a  small  appropriation  to  renovate  the  Lulld- 
ing  and  open  "  a  grammar  and  normal  depart- 
ment." It  was  not  until  October  7  of  that  year 
that  the  doors  were  opened,  and  thirty-one  boys 
and  girls  were  enrolled  in  the  first  term.  The 
school  being  of  academy  grade,  no  objection  was 
made  to  the  admission  of  girls,  bixt  there  was  no 
intention  to  settle  then  the  question  of  coeducation 
in  the  university.    It  was,  however,  thus  settled. 

The  special  board,  having  accomplished  its  pur- 
poses to  the  satisfaction  of  all  concerned,  recom- 
mended to  the  legislature  of  1868  the  transfer  of 
control  to  a  permanent  board  of  regents.  The  act 
of  February  18,  1868,  passed  in  pursuance  of  this 
counsel,  is  the  charter  of  the  university,  and  has 
not  been  materially  modified.  The  new  board  ap- 
pointed by  the  governor  with  the  consent  of  the 
senate  properly  contained  the  names  of  Pillsbury, 
Nicols,  and  Merriman.  At  the  close  of  the  school 
year  of  1869  the  regents  resolved  to  open  the 
"College  of  Science,  Literature,  and  the  Arts," 
as  the  statute  ambitiously  named  the  academic 
department.  Although  there  were  but  fourteen 
provisional  freshmen  and  a  hundred  and  fifty  pre- 
paratory students,  a  president,  eight  professors, 
and  one  instructor  were  elected.  The  faculty  thus 
constituted  organized  in  September,  and  took  up 
the  work  before  them,  mostly  that  of  a  fitting 
school. 


REVIVAL  261 

The  title  of  the  charter  of  February  18,  1868, 
contained  the  clause,  "  and  to  establish  an  agrieul- 
tural  college  therein."  The  original  act  of  1851 
creating  the  university  named  as  one  of  its  five 
departments  that  of  agriculture,  but  on  March  10, 
1858,  a  separate  "  state  agricultural  college  "  was 
established  and  located  at  Glencoe  in  McLcod 
County.  Minnesota's  share  of  the  so-called  Morrill 
land  grant  of  1862  for  the  benefit  of  colleges  of 
agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts  was  120,000 
acres.  By  an  act  approved  March  2,  1865,  the 
proceeds  of  this  grant  were  applied  and  appropri- 
ated to  the  said  agricultural  college  of  Minnesota. 
AVhat  influences  or  interests  prevailed  to  induce 
the  people  of  McLeod  County  to  consent  to  the 
merger  of  their  institution  with  the  university  are 
not  well  known,  but  the  legislature  of  1868  decided 
on  that  policy,  and  inviolably  appropriated  the 
income  of  the  Morrill  land  grant  to  the  united 
institutions.  The  friends  of  the  university  were,  of 
course,  gratified  over  the  return  to  the  scheme  of 
the  original  creative  act  of  1851  and  the  concen- 
tration of  the  state's  resources  for  the  higher  edu- 
cation. Governor  ^lurshall  had  the  satisfaction  of 
seeing  the  University  of  iSIinnesota,  in  which  he 
had  been  deeply  interested  from  its  statutory  crea- 
tion, at  length  fairly  laiuiched  on  a  career  of  pro- 
mise which  he  lived  to  see  fulfilled.  lie  had  also 
the  gratification  of  seeing  the  color  line  removed 
from  the  state  constitution  by  the  adoption,  at  the 


262  MINNESOTA 

election  of  18G8,  of  an  amendment  expunging  the 
word  "  white  "  out  of  the  article  on  the  elective 
franchise.  A  much  needed  revision  of  the  laws  of 
the  state  went  into  effect  about  the  same  time. 

Ignatius  Donnelly,  who  had  been  elected  to  Con- 
gress in  1862,  had  been  accorded  two  reelections. 
His  diligence  in  business  and  readiness  in  debate 
had  gained  him  influence  in  the  House,  and  his 
campaign  speeches  had  increased  his  popularity  at 
home.  To  all  appearance  he  was  certain  of  a  third 
reelection  in  the  fall  of  1868,  and  among  his  ad- 
mirers were  those  who  suggested  that  the  state 
and  country  would  profit  by  his  promotion  to  the 
Senate.  Such  propositions  were  not  relished  by 
the  friends  of  Senator  Ramsey,  whose  first  term 
would  be  expiring  in  the  following  winter.  Elim- 
ination of  Mr.  Donnelly  thereupon  became  to  them 
a  desirable  political  object.  It  might  not  have  been 
attained  but  for  an  error  of  Mr.  Donnelly  himself 
in  a  moment  of  perhaps  excusable  exasperation. 

In  the  winter  of  1868,  in  a  letter  to  a  constitu- 
ent explaining  why  he  had  not  pushed  a  certain 
railroad  land  grant  bill,  Mr.  Donnelly  stated  that 
E.  B.  Washburne,  member  of  Congress  from  Illinois, 
had  repeatedly  hindered  his  efforts  to  secure  legis- 
lation for  his  state.  Mr.  Washburne  replied  through 
a  St.  Paul  newspaper,  April  10, 1868,  attacking  Mr. 
Donnelly's  personal  character,  and  declaring  him 
cowardly  and  mendacious.  He  represented  him  also 


REVIVAL  263 

as  "  whining  like  a  schoolboy"  over  his  disappoint- 
ments. Thus  assailed,  Mr.  Donnelly,  on  May  2, 
made  on  the  floor  of  the  House  a  consummate  dis- 
play of  those  powers  of  ridicule  and  invective  of 
which  he  was  master.  Tolerated  by  the  House  be- 
cause of  its  enjoyment  of  the  play  of  rhetorical 
lightning,  and  perhaps  because  of  a  feeling  that 
the  speaker's  indignation  had  some  just  ground, 
the  Minnesota  member  descended  into  an  utterly 
indefensible  tirade.  It  has  ever  since  been  tradi- 
tional in  Minnesota  that  that  speech  "  cooked  Don- 
nelly's goose." 

Washburne  could  only  say  in  wrath  that  he 
would  "make  no  reply  to  a  member  covered  all 
over  with  crime  and  infamy,  a  man  whose  record  is 
stained  with  every  fraud,  a  man  who  has  proved 
false  alike  to  his  friends,  his  constituents,  his  coun- 
try, his  religion,  and  his  God."  Both  gentlemen 
apologized  for  using  unparliamentary  language,  and 
the  special  committee  of  the  House  reported  that 
as  neither  had  made  charges  affecting  the  action  of 
the  other  as  a  representative,  they  might  be  left  to 
settle  personal  difficulties  outside;  On  his  return 
to  Minnesota  after  the  close  of  the  session,  Mr. 
Donnelly  gave  expression  to  his  sentiments  towards 
the  Washburn  family  in  a  series  of  speeches  in 
which  his  peculiar  gifts  were  displa3'ed  in  the  high- 
est degree. 

The  friends  of  Senator  Ramsey  selected  for  their 
support,  as  successor  to  Mr.  Donnelly,  William  D. 


2G4  MINNESOTA 

Washburn,  a  younger  brother  of  the  represent- 
ative from  Illinois  just  mentioned,  who  had  won 
for  himself  a  place  in  their  esteem  for  ability  and 
character.  When  the  hour  for  the  convention  came, 
Mr.  Donnelly's  supporters  "  bolted,"  and  in  a  sep- 
arate body  put  their  idol  in  nomination.  Seeing 
the  regular  convention  so  largely  depleted,  Mr. 
Washburn  withdrew  after  the  first  ballot.  Gen- 
eral Lucius  F.  Hubbard  also  declined  the  honor  of 
a  candidacy ;  and  it  was  only  after  assurances  of 
active  and  substantial  support  that  General  C.  C. 
Andrews  was  persuaded  to  enter  the  lists.  The 
Democrats  saw  their  opportunity  in  this  split  in 
the  Republican  ranks,  and  put  in  nomination  and 
elected  Eugene  M.  Wilson  of  Minneapolis,  a  gen- 
tleman whose  character  and  services  entitled  him 
to  their  support.  He  served  to  the  general  satisfac- 
tion in  the  Forty-first  Congress. 

Mr.  Donnelly  now  came  out  openly  as  a  candi- 
date for  the  senatorship,  and  he  had  reason  to 
expect  an  election.  On  the  eve  of  the  Republican 
caucus,  however,  his  muster  roll  contained  but 
twenty-six  names  of  those  who  could  be  depended 
on.  Twenty-eight  votes  were  necessary  to  nominate. 
Failing  to  secure  absolute  pledges  of  the  two  lack- 
ing votes,  Mr.  Donnelly  advised  his  friends  to  give 
their  support  to  Morton  S.  Wilkinson,  who  was 
willing:  to  serve  another  term  in  the  Senate.  His 
hope  was  to  give  Mr.  Ramsey  a  rest  from  senatorial 
labors.  In  that  he  was  disappointed.  Mr.  Ramsey's 


REVIVAL  265 

friends  secured  the  adoption  of  a  resolution  to  dis- 
pense with  informal  balloting,  thus  revealing  theii" 
strength,  but  they  were  only  able  to  give  him  the 
exact  number  of  votes  (twenty-eight)  necessary  to 
a  choice.  The  election  followed  as  a  matter  of 
course,  and  Mr.  Ramsey  continued  in  a  senatorial 
career  creditable  to  himself  and  serviceable  to  the 
state  and  nation.  Mr.  Donnelly  did  not  at  once  re- 
nounce the  colors  of  the  Republican  party,  but  he 
was  ever  after  a  free  lance  in  politics,  lie  was 
repeatedly  elected  to  the  state  legislature. 

In  the  fall  of  1869  an  effort  was  made  to  give 
Mr.  Donnellv  the  regular  nomination  for  the  jrov- 
ernorship.  This  was  not  opposed  by  the  Ramsay 
leaders,  who  were  willing  to  bring  back  into  the 
fold  so  dangerous  a  rival.  That  effort,  however, 
had  but  slight  recojjnition  in  the  nominating:  con- 
vention,  which  chose  for  the  party  candidate  a 
gentleman  as  yet  not  widely  known  in  state  poli- 
tics, the  lion.  Horace  Austin  of  St.  Peter. 

The  removal  of  the  state  capital  from  St.  Paul, 
which  would  have  been  accomplished  in  1857  but 
for  the  high-handed  exploit  of  Councilor  Rolette, 
though  frequently  broached  informally,  was  not 
seriously  taken  up  by  any  legislature  till  1809.  A 
bill  for  removal  to  Kandiyohi  County,  on  to  land 
belonging  to  the  state,  was  passed  through  both 
houses  so  easily  and  rapidly  as  to  invite  the  surmise 
that  the  necessary  votes  had  been  secured  in  ad- 
vance.   Superfluous  debate  was  shut  out  by  the 


266  MINNESOTA 

operation  of  the  previous  question.  The  vote  in 
the  house  was  39  to  7,  that  in  the  senate  12  to  10 ; 
but  the  house  could  not  muster  enough  votes  to 
pass  the  bill  over  Governor  Marshall's  veto.  The 
veto  message  was  moderate  in  tone ;  suggesting  that 
it  would  be  wise  to  hear  from  the  people  on  the 
question,  that  there  should  be  no  haste  about  a  final 
location  of  the  capital,  and  that  it  was  no  time  to 
expend  a  great  sum  of  money  on  buildings. 

Two  years  later  a  final  proposal  to  remove  the 
capital  from  St.  Paul  to  the  imagined  city  of  Stan- 
ton met  with  a  prompt  indefinite  postponement. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

STORM   AND   STRESS 

Horace  Austin  was  inaugurated  governor  Janu- 
ary 9,1870.  A  native  of  Connecticut,  who  had  lived 
and  married  in  Maine,  he  had  come  to  ^linnesota 
in  1855  at  the  age  of  twenty-five  and  settled  at  St. 
Peter.  He  had  studied  law  and  taught  school,  but 
had  taken  no  college  course.  In  the  campaign  of 
1863  against  the  Sioux  he  commanded  a  company 
of  Minnesota  ^Mounted  Rangers  and  gave  a  good 
account  of  himself  on  the  march  and  battlefield. 
His  neighbors  had  elected  him  a  district  judge  and 
were  more  than  content  with  his  wise  and  fearless 
conduct  on  the  bench.  It  was  a  piece  of  good  for- 
tune for  the  state  that  the  warring  Ramsey  and 
Donnelly  factions  of  the  Republican  party  in  the 
convention  of  1869  compromised  upon  a  candidate 
unobjectionable  to  both,  but  no  especial  favorite 
with  either.  His  majority  was  less  than  two  thou- 
sand over  the  popular  candidate  of  the  Democrats, 
George  L.  Otis.  Ingenious,  hopeful,  independent, 
Mr.  Austin  in  successive  messages  showered  upon 
the  legislatures  projects  of  reform  and  develop- 
ment. In  many  of  them  he  was  doomed  to  disap- 
pointment because  he  relied  entirely  on  the  merit 


268  MINNESOTA 

of  propositions,  and  was  not  politician  enough  to 
understand  that  it  is  only  by  timely  and  happy 
combination  of  interests  that  measures  can  be  car-, 
ried  in  legislative  bodies.  Among  tliese  abortive 
recommendations  may  be  mentioned  the  one  in 
his  second  message,  urging  a  revision  of  the  state 
constitution,  which  he  declared  to  be  a  motley  of 
inconsistencies.  His  desire  was  that  a  revised  con- 
stitution should  contain  such  provisions  as  these : 
(1)  Restriction  of  special  legislation ;  (2)  prohibi- 
tion of  exclusive  franchises ;  (3)  limitation  of  local 
taxation  ;  (4)  restriction  of  municipal  debts ;  (5) 
ample  power  to  regulate  railroads ;  and  (6)  aboli- 
tion of  the  grand  jury.  Neither  the  legislature  to 
which  the  recommendation  was  addressed  nor  any 
subsequent  one  has  been  willing  to  propose  to  the 
people  a  revision  of  the  constitution.  Casual  amend- 
ments have  been  frequent,  but  a  late  amendment  to 
the  amending  article,  requiring  an  affirmative  vote 
of  a  majority  of  all  the  electors  to  adopt  a  proposed 
amendment,  will  certainly  render  it  difficult,  and  it 
may  be  impossible,  to  make  further  casual  changes 
in  the  state's  organic  law.  A  happy  illustration  of 
Mr.  Austin's  independence  may  be  found  in  his 
action  on  the  disposition  of  the  so-called  "  internal 
impi-ovement  lands  "  of  the  state.  An  almost  for- 
gotten statute  of  the  United  States,  passed  in  1841, 
authorized  the  gift  to  any  new  state  of  five  hundred 
thousand  acres  of  public  lands  for  "  internal  im- 
provements." The  claim  of  Minnesota  to  this  grant 


STORM   AND   STRESS  269 

had  been  tardily  conceded  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior.  In  his  inaugural  address  Governor  Austin 
recommended  that  the  disposition  of  the  lands  should 
be  submitted  to  popular  vote.  The  legislature  then 
opening  (1870)  was  of  a  diiferent  mind,  and  listened 
to  suggestions  that  the  end  of  the  law  would  be 
served  if  the  lands  should  be  bestowed  on  certain 
railroad  corporations  willing  to  accept  them.  When 
the  legislature  of  1871  convened  that  proposition 
seemed  much  in  favor,  and  a  bill  to  divide  the  whole 
grant,  then  possibly  worth  ten  millions  of  dollars, 
in  eleven  parcels  among  seven  corporations  was 
passed  in  so  summary  a  manner  as  to  suggest  a 
careful  rehearsal  for  the  purely  formal  proceedings. 
The  support  of  the  bill  was  so  evenly  derived  from 
the  two  political  parties  that  neither  of  them  could 
claim  the  greater  credit  for  guarding  tlie  public 
interest. 

The  veto  message  of  Governor  Austin  will  long 
remain  a  landmark  in  the  political  history  of  the 
state.  In  the  plainest  of  English  he  told  the  legis- 
lators that  they  had  been  either  cajoled  or  bullied 
into  passing  a  measure  they  dared  not  submit  to 
the  people,  that  the  minute  parceling  of  the  lands 
would  be  ridiculously  ineffective,  that  they  had  no 
power  to  divide  the  lands,  but  only  the  proceeds 
thereof,  and  that  they  had  voted  to  divert  the  na- 
tional gift  from  its  intended  object.  From  this 
date  tliore  was  no  question  of  a  reelection,  shouhl 
he  desire  it.  In  the  following  year  an  aiueudmont 


270  MINNESOTA 

providing  that  no  disposition  should  be  made  of 
those  lands  until  after  the  ratification  of  any  pro- 
posed measure  by  vote  of  the  electors  was  submitted 
and,  at  the  election,  adopted.  The  use  to  wliich  they 
were  put  ten  years  later  will  be  related  in  its  place. 

For  Minnesota  as  for  the  country  at  large,  the 
early  seventies  belong  to  one  of  the  most  notable 
"  boom "  periods  in  our  economic  history.  The 
census  of  1870  verified  the  hopes  of  enthusiastic 
promotors  in  many  lines.  The  total  population 
footed  up  439,706.  The  native  born  in  round  num- 
bers were  279,000,  of  whom  126,000  had  been  born 
in  the  state.  The  foreign  born  were  161,000,  of 
whom  the  Scandinavian  kingdoms  had  sent  59,000 
and  Germany  41,000.  The  English-speaking  immi- 
grants numbered  47,000.  The  swelling  number  of 
inhabitants  was  inspiring  and  the  high  quality  of  the 
population  was  equally  satisfactory.  One  hundred 
and  thirty-one  thousand  coming  from  the  north 
Atlantic  and  north  central  states  had  bronght  with 
them  American  traditions  and  culture,  capital, 
brains,  and  ambition  for  an  enlarged  career  in  a 
land  of  opportunity.  The  foreign  accessions  were 
Christians,  willing  workers,  and  many  of  them 
passionate  lovers  of  free  government. 

The  rapid  extension  of  railroads  was  both  a 
cause  and  a  consequence  of  this  increase  of  people ; 
of  their  distribution,  their  productive  power,  and 
their  demands  for  the  comforts  and  luxuries  of 
other  skies.  Rail  connection  eastward  by  way  of  the 


STORM  AND  STRESS  271 

head  of  Lake  Michigan,  established  in  1867,  had 
given  quicker  mails  and  shortened  the  passenger 
journey  to  the  seaboard.  No  produce  save  that  of 
highest  value  in  smallest  bulk  could  stand  trans- 
portation charges  to  New  York.  The  completion 
of  the  railroad  from  St.  Paul  to  the  head  of  Lake 
Superior  in  1870  brought  that  city  almost  as  near 
salt  water  as  Chicago,  and  opened  the  great  water- 
way of  the  lakes  for  Minnesota's  grain  and  lumber, 
and  returning  coal  and  merchandise.  Later  her 
annual  millions  of  tons  of  iron  ore  have  passed 
down  through  "  The  Soo  "  to  Lake  Erie  ports. 

The  year  following  (1871)  was  abundant  in 
railroad  extension.  The  main  line  of  the  Great 
Northern  was  extended  to  Breckenridge  on  the 
Red  River  of  the  North ;  the  River  division  of 
the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul,  prolonged 
to  Winona,  shortened  the  journey  to  Chicago  by 
many  hours  ;  and  the  Northern  Pacific  had  reached 
the  Red  River  at  Moorhead.  Meantime  the  South- 
ern Minnesota  had  been  pushed  out  to  the  Blue 
Earth,  and  the  Winona  and  St.  Peter  to  the  Minne- 
sota. The  350  miles  built  in  1872,  though  reaching 
no  important  terminals,  brought  the  total  mileage 
at  the  close  of  the  year  up  to  an  even  1900. 

In  those  years  of  plentiful  money  and  multiply- 
ing fortunes,  railroad  building  was  rapid  and  easy 
in  Minnesota.  Investors  were  keen  for  bonds  se- 
cured by  land  grants  of  enormous  extent,  and  bear- 
ing a  liberal  interest,  especially  when  offered  at  a 


272  MINNESOTA 

seductive  discount.  The  controlling  spirits  of  the 
companies  found  some  profit  in  financing  construc- 
tion companies,  but  more  in  town  lot  and  land 
speculations.  Railroad  building  out  on  the  open 
prairie  far  in  advance  of  settlement  was  a  novelty 
then.  The  gentlemen  whose  privilege  it  was  to  de- 
termine the  lines  and  locate  the  stations  were  in 
position  to  make  profitable  selections  of  lots  and 
lands,  and  to  let  their  friends  "in  on  the  ground 
floor "  for  a  consideration.  Around  the  selected 
stations  considerable  villages  would  arise  in  a  single 
season.  In  some  cases  the  town  would  be  built 
before  the  track  had  reached  it.  There  were  in- 
stances in  which  settlements  were  made  on  mis- 
taken calculations  of  actual  location,  and  then  the 
houses  and  shops  were  literally  put  on  wheels  and 
hauled  over  to  the  chosen  spots. 

The  lands  adjacent  to  the  railroad  lines,  espe- 
cially within  a  few  miles  of  the  stations,  were,  of 
course,  in  great  demand  and  rose  rapidly  in  price. 
Cultivation  was  no  longer  confined  to  the  river 
counties,  but  spread  rapidly  inland.  It  did  not 
take  a  generation  of  the  hardest  labor  to  make  a 
farm  on  the  Minnesota  prairie.  In  the  first  season 
the  newcomer  conld  win  his  subsistence,  and  in  the 
second  begin  to  build.  The  cultivated  area  of  the 
state,  which  was  630,000  acres  in  the  closing  year 
of  the  Civil  War,  rose  to  1,863,300  in  1870,  and  five 
years  later  fell  not  much  short  of  3,000,000. 

A  larjre  fraction  of  this  area  was  devoted  to  a 


STORM  AND  STRESS  273 

kind  of  cultivation  novel  to  this  country,  but  which 
remained  profitable  only  so  long  as  the  virgin  fer- 
tility of  the  soil  survived,  and  that  was  rarely 
longer  than  ten  years.  "  Bonanza  farming,"  so 
called,  was  carried  on  by  large  proprietors  or  les- 
sees, owning  or  controlling  many  thousands  of 
acres,  employing  machines  and  large  gangs  of  men 
and  animals.  For  these  estates  there  were  devel- 
oped out  of  the  petty  apparatus  suitable  to  the 
little  eastern  farm,  the  sulky  plow  with  its  two 
mould-boards,  the  disk  harrow,  the  twelve-foot 
seeder,  the  self-binding  reaper,  and  the  giant 
threshing-machine.  There  was  but  one  principal 
crop,  spring  wheat,  which  was  commonly  threshed 
from  the  shock  and  immediately  marketed.  To 
handle  the  great  quantities,  grain  "  elevators  "  were 
built  at  the  railroad  stations,  tall,  ungainly  struc- 
tures with  conveniences  for  weighing  in,  lifting, 
weighing  out,  and  spouting  into  waiting  freight 
cars.  At  terminals  were  erected  elevators  for  clean- 
ing and  drying  grain,  as  well  as  for  storage  for 
many  thousands  or  millions  of  bushels.  The  coun- 
try elevator  was  also  convenient  for  the  small 
farmer,  who  was  saved  the  cost  of  building  a  gran- 
ary of  high-priced  lumber  from  distant  pineries. 

Early  settlers  in  the  Northwest  had  found  spring 
wheat,  with  its  power  of  rapid  growth  in  the  long 
sunshine  of  higli  latitudes,  a  better  crop  than  win- 
ter wheat,  occu])ying  the  soil  for  two  seasons  and 
liable  to  winter  kill.  But  the  spring  wheat  berry, 


274  MINNESOTA 

although  of  higher  nutritive  value  than  that  of 
winter  wheat,  had  a  flinty  envelope  and  yielded  a 
flour  too  dark  in  color  to  suit  the  market.  A  revo- 
lution in  the  process  of  milling  presently  reversed 
the  places  of  the  two  flours.  Milling  had  already 
advanced  so  far  beyond  the  primitive  separation  of 
flour  from  bran  by  hand  sifting  as  to  segregate  a 
residuum  of  coarser  granules,  called  "  middlings," 
which,  subjected  to  a  second  grinding,  yielded  a  low 
grade  flour.  It  had  been  discovered  also  that  these 
middlings  contained  the  more  nutritive  elements  of 
the  wheat  berry,  and  it  had  been  a  problem  how 
to  recover  them.  French  millers  were  in  possession 
of  a  method  for  its  partial  solution.  George  H. 
Christian  of  Minneapolis  had  long  studied  on  the 
problem,  and  in  1870  employed  a  French  immi- 
grant named  La  Croix  to  construct  a  rude  appa- 
ratus in  his  mill  at  Minneapolis.  This  was  the 
germ  of  the  ''  middlings  purifier,"  soon  developed 
and  installed  in  all  mills  using  spring  wheat.  Re- 
ceiving middlings  from  the  first  grinding,  the  ma- 
chine by  use  of  sieves  and  air  currents  separated 
out  the  pure  wheat  granules.  These  were  reground 
and  "bolted"  into  two  or  more  grades  of  flour. 
The  first  grade  was  put  on  the  market  as  "  iNIinne- 
sota  Patent,"  and  for  a  time  commanded  a  price  of 
three  dollars  a  barrel  above  any  other.  The  same 
principles,  refined  upon,  have  resulted  in  the  more 
modern  process  of  "  gradual  reduction  "  by  means 
of  rollers,  displacing  the  immemorial  millstones. 


STORM  AND  STRESS  275 

The  rapid  development  of  a  great  milling  centre 
at  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  opened  a  market  for 
the  spring  wheat,  which  could  not  otherwise  have 
been  grown.  The  Minnesota  crop  of  fifteen  million 
of  bushels  in  1870  was  to  be  doubled  in  1875.  The 
patent  milling  process  gave  to  Minneapolis  an 
advantage  soon  apparent  in  the  multiplication  not 
only  of  flour  mills,  but  of  industries  ancillary 
thereto.  The  manufacture  of  lumber  out  of  logs 
from  the  pineries  of  the  upper  Mississippi  and  its 
tributaries,  which  had  been  her  leading  industry, 
now  took  a  second  but  still  important  place.  The 
city  of  Saint  Anthony's  Falls  had  suffered  by  the 
migration  of  many  of  her  most  capable  men  of 
affairs  to  "the  west  side,"  where  Minneapolis 
sprang  into  being  as  by  magic  when  the  military 
reservation  was  reduced  in  the  middle  of  the  fifties. 
The  new  city  soon  outstripped  the  old  in  popula- 
tion, in  manufacturing,  and  in  merchandizing.  At 
length  it  became  apparent  that  there  was  no  pro- 
priety in  the  maintenance  of  separate  municipal 
organizations  at  the  falls.  By  virtue  of  an  act  of 
the  legislature,  approved  February  28,  1872,  the 
older  city  lost  its  name  and  became  the  east  divi- 
sion of  Minneapolis.  The  regrets  of  some  of  her 
oldest  citizens  were  mitigated  by  the  suggestion 
that  the  jSIinneapolis  thus  enlarged  might  some 
day  become  the  rival  of  ^linnesota's  capital  city 
in  wealth  and  numbers,  if  not  in  political  impor- 
tance. 


276  MINNESOTA 

The  land  grant  railroads,  rapidly  extended  after 
the  Civil  War,  had  occasioned  the  building  of  new 
towns,  the  opening  of  new  farms,  the  production 
of  more  millions  of  bushels  of  wheat,  to  be  passed 
through  more  elevators  and  carried  in  more  freight 
cars  to  more  mills,  for  conversion  into  more  thou- 
sands of  barrels  of  Minnesota  Patent  flour.  All 
these  called  for  more  miles  of  railroad,  and  the 
revolving  game  went  merrily  on  for  some  years. 
So  obvious  were  the  advantages  of  railroad  trans- 
portation that  every  possible  inducement  was  held 
out  to  invite  construction.  Rights  of  way  and 
bonuses  in  the  shape  of  town,  county,  and  city 
bonds  were  willingly  bestowed.  State  and  munici- 
pal authorities  were  so  indulgent  and  generous  that 
railroad  "  interests  "  came  to  expect  the  fulfillment 
of  any  requisitions  they  should  please  to  make.  A 
crowning  example  of  this  confidence  has  been  given 
in  the  so-called  "  land  grab  "  of  1871,  whose  con- 
summation lacked  only  the  approval  of  Governor 
Austin.  But  under  this  seeming  of  prosperity  for 
the  public  and  the  people  whose  wealth  was  going 
into  the  railroads  there  was  trouble  brewing. 
Transportation  did  not  come  as  cheap  as  the  pub- 
lic was  expecting  from  corporations,  which  had  re- 
ceived from  Congress  public  lands  worth  about 
$10,000  per  mile  at  government  prices,  to  aid 
them  in  building.  Five  cents  per  mile  passenger 
fare  seemed  exorbitant,  as  did  freight  rates  ran- 
ging from  seven  cents  to  sixty  cents  per  ton  mile. 


STORM   AND   STRESS  277 

The  immense  loans  made  by  sale  of  bonds  were 
understood  to  be  part  of  a  policy  of  the  corpora- 
tion managers  to  get  their  roads  built  on  credit, 
and  to  hold  the  lands,  released  from  the  primary 
mortgages,  for  speculation.  There  were  abundant 
innuendoes  thrown  out  in  political  campaigns  that 
public  officials,  especially  members  of  legislative 
bodies,  national,  state,  and  municipal,  had  not  been 
losers  by  the  grants  and  indulgences  showered  on 
the  corporations.  It  is  improbable  that  many  in- 
dividuals were  thus  persuaded  or  enriched  by 
large  benefactions.  When  the  whole  community 
were  ready  to  grant  everything  a  railroad  com- 
pany could  ask,  there  was  little  need  for  "  graft." 
Chief,  however,  among  all  causes  of  exaspera- 
tion were  the  frequent  and  notorious  discrimina- 
tions in  favor  of  some  individuals,  industries,  and 
places  against  others.  By  the  connivance  of  one  or 
more  companies  the  fuel  supply  of  a  city  was  put 
into  the  hands  of  a  single  firm  or  clique.  The  big 
shipper  generally  was  conceded  a  better  rate  than 
his  small  competitors.  But  it  must  be  said  that  at 
terminal  points  and  junctions,  where  shippers  had 
the  choice  of  two  or  more  lines,  they  sometimes 
forced  the  hungry  traffic  managers  to  offer  rates 
by  no  means  agreeable  or  profitable.  When  the 
rate  per  hundred  pounds  on  merchandise  from 
New  York  by  way  of  the  lakes  to  St.  Paul,  includ- 
ing 15G  miles  of  railroad  haid,  was  35  cents,  that 
from  St.  Paul  to  Faribault,  56  miles,  was  39  cents. 


278  MINNESOTA 

The  state  constitution  contained  (and  still  contains) 
the  provision  that  all  common  carriers  enjoying 
right  of  way  for  public  use  shall  carry  the  mineral, 
agricultural,  and  other  productions  of  the  state  "  on 
equal  and  reasonable  terms."  The  farmers  could 
not  see  that  a  rate  on  wheat  from  Owatonna  to 
Winona  of  2.6  cents,  and  one  of  6  cents  from 
Rochester,  40  miles  on  the  road  nearer  Winona, 
were  "  equal "  ;  nor  could  the  people  of  Faribault 
and  vicinity  see  what  justice  there  was  in  paying 
!|29.50  freight  per  carload  of  lumber  from  the 
falls,  while  residents  of  Owatonna,  15  miles  farther 
on,  should  enjoy  a  rate  of  -f  18. 

As  early  as  1866,  in  his  inaugural  address  to  the 
legislature,  Governor  Marshall  had  advised  that 
body  to  be  looking  out  "for  the  interests  of  the 
people  against  possible  oppression  from  these  cor- 
porations, which  will  soon  be  a  power  in  the  land." 
In  his  message  of  1867  he  suggested  that  it  was  time 
to  attach  proper  terms  and  conditions  to  railroad 
aid.  He  did  not  like  the  withdrawal  of  ten  million 
acres  of  land  from  the  operation  of  the  homestead 
act. 

Governor  Austin,  in  his  inaugural  address  of 
1870,  went  no  further  than  to  ask  the  attention  of 
the  legislature  to  the  complaints  of  railroad  extor- 
tions and  discriminations,  and  the  use  of  the  con- 
stitutional powers  possessed  by  it  for  their  abate- 
ment. His  first  annual  message,  delivered  one  year 
later,  is  a  notable  document  in  the  literature  of  rail- 


STORM  AND  STRESS  279 

road  regulation.  It  may  be  questioned  whether  there 
was  another  state  executive  in  the  country  ready  at 
that  time  to  nail  any  such  array  of  theses  on  the 
doors  of  the  capitol.  His  propositions,  briefed  out 
of  his  text,  were :  1.  All  special  railroad  charters 
not  put  into  operation  within  ten  days  after  consum- 
mation, to  be  void.  2.  Every  railroad  corporation 
doing  business  within  the  state  to  maintain  a  public 
office  within  the  state,  and  keep  therein  records 
of  the  officials,  capitalization,  assets,  and  liabilities. 
3.  No  new  road  to  be  built  parallel  to  an  existing 
road,  4.  All  railroads  in  the  state  to  be  public  high- 
ways free  to  all  persons  for  transportation  at  reason- 
able charges.  5.  No  railroad  company  to  issue  any 
stocks  and  bonds  except  for  money,  labor,  or  pro- 
perty actually  received  and  applied  to  the  purposes 
of  the  corporation ;  all  fictitious  stocks  and  bonds  to 
be  void,  and  no  increase  of  either,  unless  in  a  man- 
ner prescribed  by  law.  6.  The  state's  right  of  emi- 
nent domain  to  apply  to  railroad  as  to  other  pro- 
perty. 7.  Adequate  penalties,  extending  if  deemed 
necessary  to  forfeiture  of  property  and  franchise, 
to  be  provided  for  unjust  discrimination  or  extor- 
tion. 8.  Finally,  the  creation  of  a  national  railroad 
commission  for  the  regulation  of  commerce  by  rail 
and  otherwise  among  the  several  states. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  same  legislature  which 
passed  the  500,000  acre  land  grab  also  enacted  one 
of  the  first  and  most  stringent  acts  for  railroad  regu- 
lation. It  is  cha])tor  24  of  the  General  Laws  of  1871. 


280  MINNESOTA 

It  classified  all  freight  and  fixed  a  maximum  rate 
for  each  of  the  five  classes,  according  to  distance. 
It  determined  a  maximum  passenger  fare  of  five 
cents  per  mile.  It  declared  all  railroads  in  the  state 
to  be  public  highways,  and  fixed  a  penalty  of  $1000 
for  every  denial  of  the  right  of  any  person  to  travel  or 
ship  goods  at  the  prescribed  rates.  The  law  finally 
declared  the  rates  therein  established  to  be  "  maxi- 
mum reasonable  rates,"  and  any  corporation  de- 
manding or  receiving  more  should,  on  conviction, 
forfeit  its  charter. 

The  same  legislature  (1871)  provided  for  the 
appointment  by  the  governor  of  a  state  railroad 
commissioner  to  observe  the  behavior  of  the  corpo- 
rations under  the  new  law.  The  first  incumbent  was 
General  Alonzo  J.  Edgerton,  who  had  given  proof 
of  ability  by  gallant  military  service  and  successful 
practice  as  an  attorney.  The  three  reports  of  this 
official  are  a  pitiful  record  of  the  unequal  struggle 
of  the  legislatures  with  their  informally  confederate 
creatures,  the  railroad  corporations.  To  the  regu- 
lative act  of  1871  the  corporations  gave  not  the 
slightest  heed,  partly  on  the  ground  of  their  rights 
as  quasi-persons,  partly  because  in  their  territorial 
charters  they  had  been  authorized  to  make  "  rea- 
sonable charges  "  for  services,  and  the  legislature 
had  not  reserved  the  right  to  determine  what  charges 
were  reasonable.  If  some  of  the  roads  somewhat 
abated  their  rates,  it  was  not  because  of  the  legal 
mandate.    Gross  discriminations  continued  to  be 


STORM   AND   STRESS  281 

practiced.  The  evasion  of  taxes  by  the  companies 
by  various  devices  added  to  public  exasperation. 
The  commissioner  was  gratified  to  have  exacted  an 
increase  of  railroad  taxes  from  S56,505.54  in  1871 
to  -1106,870.35  in  the  year  after,  and  regretted  his 
inability  to  reach  $250,000  more  illegally  withheld. 
One  company,  the  Minnesota  Central,  sold  its  en- 
tire railroad  property  to  the  Milwaukee  interest, 
retaining  its  unsold  lands,  and  claimed  to  survive 
as  a  railroad  company  entitled  to  hold  its  lands  free 
of  taxation.  For  lack  of  authority  to  make  personal 
inspections  of  company  accounts  and  property  the 
commissioner  could  not  verify  their  reluctant  re- 
ports, which,  because  not  made  on  a  prescribed  uni- 
form plan,  were  of  slight  practical  service.  In  his 
report  for  1873  he  reminded  the  legislature  that  the 
companies,  which  had  by  the  beginning  of  that  year 
constructed  1900  miles  of  road,  had  received  from 
the  nation,  state,  and  municipalities,  grants  and 
gifts  to  the  value  of  151,000,000,  being  about  127,- 
000  per  mile  of  completed  road.  The  average  neces- 
sary cost  of  construction  and  equipment,  according 
to  an  expert  computation,  would  have  been  a  trifle 
over  !|23,000  to  the  mile.  In  that  year  the  bonded 
debt  of  the  roads  amounted  to  |>54,500,000.  The 
aggregate  of  capital  stock,  $20,000,000,  raised  the 
"capitalization"  of  the  roads  to  $74,500,000;  nearly 
$48,000  per  mile.  Only  nominal  amounts  of  stock- 
proceeds  had  gone  into  construction  and  equipment, 
and  there  were  wide  marjrins  between  the  face  value 


282  MINNESOTA 

of  the  bonds  sold  and  the  actual  expenditures.  In 
some  instances,  says  the  commissioner,  not  more 
than  forty  per  cent,  went  into  construction.  In  these 
years  in  which  building  was  going  on  so  swimmingly, 
operation  was  far  from  encouraging.  The  managers 
had  been  more  concerned  to  increase  mileage  than 
to  build  substantially.  Heavy  grades,  sharp  curves, 
and  slight  construction  were  the  result.  The  iron 
rails  weighed  for  the  most  part  but  fifty  pounds  to 
the  yard.  Equipment  corresponded,  of  course,  with 
track  and  rail.  The  amount  of  business  obtained 
at  the  fares  and  rates  exacted  was  disappointingly 
small.  After  the  grain  crop  was  moved  the  amount 
of  paying  freight  was  meagre  and  backloading 
trifling  in  amount.  Operating  expenses  rose  to 
eighty  per  cent,  of  the  gross  earnings.  The  balance 
of  earnings  and  expenses  for  the  year  1873  was  but 
$1,400,000  for  all  the  Minnesota  roads,  a  sum  which 
must  have  seemed  pitifully  small  in  the  eyes  of  the 
men  whose  money  had  built  them.  The  reader  need 
hardly  be  told  that  the  Minnesota  railroad  corpora- 
tions went  down  in  the  crash  which  came  upon  the 
country  in  1873.  Three  defaulted  in  their  interest, 
two  borrowed  money  to  pay  it,  two  went  into  re- 
ceivers' hands,  and  others  attempted  assessments 
on  their  stockholders.  In  the  next  four  years  but 
eighty-seven  miles  of  new  road  were  built. 

When  the  roads  refused  to  conform  to  the  law  of 
1871  it  became  the  duty  of  the  attorney-general  to 
bring  suit  for  forfeiture  of  charters,  the  prescribed 


STORM   AND   STRESS  283 

penalty  for  disobedience.  John  D.  Blake  and  others 
sued  the  Winona  and  St.  Peter  Railroad  Company 
in  the  district  court  of  Olinstead  County,  alleging 
that  said  corporation  had  exacted  for  a  certain  ser- 
vice one  dollar  and  ninety-nine  cents,  whereas  the 
statute  had  determined  the  sum  of  fifty-seven  cents 
to  be  the  reasonable  maximum  charge.  This  court 
held,  with  the  defending  company,  that  the  legis- 
lature had  no  power  under  the  constitution  to  fix 
and  determine  railroad  rates.  The  state  intervened 
and  the  case  was  appealed  to  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Minnesota,  which  reversed  the  decision  of  the  court 
below,  thus  sustaining  the  validity  of  the  act  of 
1871.  The  case  was  then  carried  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  and  was  numbered 
among  the  well-known  "  granger  cases,"  held  under 
consideration  for  four  years  and  disposed  of  ac- 
cording to  the  principles  laid  down  by  that  court 
in  the  case  of  Munn  vs.  Illinois.  In  the  "Blake 
case,"  decided  in  October,  1876,  it  was  held  that 
the  legislature  of  Minnesota  was  within  its  con- 
stitutional powers  in  regulating  and  fixing  railroad 
rates  and  charges  and  prescribing  penalties  for 
violations  of  her  laws  in  that  behalf. 

In  this  interval  the  prostrated  and  nearly  bank- 
rupt corporations  were  in  no  condition  to  conduct 
themselves  offensively.  In  1874  a  state  board  of 
three  railroad  commissioners  was  created.  Mr, 
Edgerton  was  retained  as  a  member,  with  Ex- 
Governor  Marshall  as  one  of  his  colleagues.  Under 


284  MINNESOTA 

their  powers  they  made  and  published  a  complete 
schedule  of  reasonable  maximum  fares  and  rates 
according  to  distances,  and  reported  at  the  close  of 
the  year  a  general  and  substantial  compliance  on  the 
part  of  the  companies.  Their  representatives  showed 
such  good  nature  and  made  such  fair  showing  of 
their  meagre  profits  that  the  commissioners  found 
good  reason  to  allow  them  all  they  could  reason- 
ably claim.  This  led  to  the  suggestion  that  the 
commissioners  had  been  deluded  or  corrupted  by 
the  smart  and  able  railroad  men.  The  next  legisla- 
ture (1875)  accordingly  replaced  them  with  a  sin- 
gle commissioner  to  be  chosen  by  the  electors,  with 
such  meagre  powers  as  to  justify  a  guess  that  some 
ingenious  railroad  attorney  drafted  the  bill.  Ex- 
Governor  Marshall  held  the  office  for  six  years, 
discharging  the  duties  with  admirable  discretion. 

As  an  example  of  the  liberality,  not  to  say  crim- 
inal recklessness,  with  which  railroad  operators  in 
the  decade  following  the  Civil  War  made  use  of 
other  people's  money,  it  will  be  well  to  follow  the 
fortunes  of  one  of  the  great  land  grant  companies. 
The  Minnesota  and  Pacific  Railroad  Company  was 
one  of  the  four  corporations  created  by  special  act 
in  1857  to  receive  the  colossal  land  grant  made  in 
that  year  to  aid  railroad  building  in  Minnesota. 
This  company  was  obligated  to  build  from  Still- 
water via  St.  Anthony  to  Breckenridge,  and  from 
St.  Anthony  to  St.  Vincent,  a  hamlet  on  the  Red 
River  near  the  crossing  of  the  Canadian  boundary. 


STOKM   AND   STRESS  285 

Along  with  the  rest  it  defaulted,  and  in  the  summer 
of  1860  its  property  and  franchises  were  sold  to 
the  state  upon  foreclosure.  An  effort  to  recover 
these  by  conforming  to  conditions  imposed  by  the 
legislature  as  already  stated,  proved  abortive.  In 
1862,  however,  the  franchises,  rights  of  way,  the 
land  grant,  and  other  property  thus  forfeited  were 
bestowed  upon  a  new  corporation  styled  the  St. 
Paul  and  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  which  built 
ten  miles  of  road  that  year  and  oj^ened  business 
between  St.  Paul  and  St.  Anthony.  The  year  after, 
seventeen  and  one  half  miles  of  track  were  added, 
and  trains  run  to  Anoka.  This  rate  of  progress  did 
not  satisfy  the  corporation  nor  the  expectant  people. 
Circumstances  not  now  well  known  opened  the  way 
for  borrowing  money  in  Holland.  To  give  the  great 
enterprise  a  less  tremendous  aspect,  it  was  resolved 
to  separate  it,  so  that  the  portions  of  road  lying  in 
districts  already  settling  up  might  be  immediately 
"financed,"  while  those  running  to  distant  regions 
known  only  to  hunters  and  Indian  traders  might 
be  left  to  the  future.  Accordingly  in  1864,  under 
legislative  authority,  a  new  and  separate  corpora- 
tion was  formed  by  the  interests  controlling  the 
existing  company,  under  the  name  and  style  of 
"  The  First  Division  of  the  St.  Paid  and  Pacific 
Railroad  Company."  To  this  new  company  was 
transferred  the  "  main  line "  from  St.  Paul  to 
Breckenridge  and  the  "  branch  "  from  St.  Anthony 
to  St.  Cloud.  The  early   building  of    these  lines 


286  MINNESOTA 

within  the  bounds  of  civilization  would  not,  it  was 
believed,  appear  a  romantic  undertaking  to  invest- 
ors. The  scheme  had  its  intended  effect.  Money 
poured  in  galore.  When  the  "  branch  "  was  finished 
to  St. Cloud  in  1866  (76  miles),  $7,000,000  of  bonds 
had  been  sold.  That  amount  of  cash  would  have 
built  350  miles  of  road,  as  roads  were  then  built  in 
level  regions.  Five  years  later  (1871)  the  "  main 
line"  reached  the  Red  River  at  Breckenridge  (217 
miles),  and  the  bond  issue  had  been  swelled  to 
$13,500,000.  The  two  lines  might  have  been  built 
for  much  less  than  half  as  many  dollars.  Upon  the 
completion  of  the  main  line  and  branch  it  was  be- 
lieved to  be  feasible  and  judicious  to  go  on  with  the 
construction  of  the  remaining  mileage  retained  by 
the  original  St.  Paul  and  Pacific  Company.  This 
consisted  of  the  so-called  "  extensions  "  :  the  "  St. 
Vincent  Extension,"  from  St.  Cloud  to  the  Canada 
line  on  the  Red  River,  and  the  trifling  "  Brainerd 
Extension,"  from  St.  Cloud  to  Crow  Wing.  To 
build  these  a  loan  of  $15,000,000  was  obtained  in 
Holland.  The  bonds  were  placed  at  seventy-five 
cents  on  the  dollar,  and  twenty-one  per  cent,  of  the 
proceeds  were  retained  to  meet  three  years'  interest. 
These  discounts  left  a  little  short  of  >!9,000,000  in 
available  cash.  This  amount  would  have  built  and 
equipped  both  the  extensions  (about  470  miles)  ac- 
cording to  the  building  standards  of  the  time.  In 
November,  1872,  the  money  was  all  gone  and  there 
had  been  built  140  miles  of  road,  100  miles  having  no 


STORM  AND  STRESS  287 

connection  with  the  existing  portions  of  the  system. 
Collections  of  rails,  ties,  and  bridge  material,  not 
actually  paid  for,  remained  on  hand,  a  useless  asset. 
In  his  message  to  the  legislature  of  1873  Governor 
Austin  characterized  the  finance  of  the  companies 
by  implication  as  injudicious  and  dishonest,  and 
vaguely  suggested  that  the  just  claims  of  the  for- 
eigners should  be  consulted.  The  lawmakers,  how- 
ever, were  disposed  to  allow  the  foreign  investors, 
who  had  placed  their  funds  according  to  their  own 
judgment,  to  use  their  own  wits  to  recover  their 
losses.  It  is  difficult  to  see  what  relief  the  legislature 
could  lawfully  have  rendered. 

That  body  had  no  sooner  adjourned  than  in  May 
(1873)  the  companies  defaulted  on  their  interest. 
Two  corporations,  parent  and  child,  owned  433 
miles  of  railroad  of  light  construction  and  equip- 
ment, on  which  rested  128,000,000  of  bonded  debt 
running  at  seven  per  cent.,  and  the  net  earnings 
for  the  previous  year  had  been  $112,745.57.  In 
August  the  United  States  District  Court  for  Minne- 
sota put  the  mother  corporation  into  the  hands  of 
a  receiver,  but  left  the  stockholders  and  bondhold- 
ers of  the  "First  Division"  coHi])any  to  wrestle 
with  the  business  under  their  legal  and  stipulated 
powers.  The  legislature  had  in  separate  acts  au- 
thorized the  bondholders  of  that  company  to  vote 
for  directors,  who  might  be  foreigners,  any  or  all, 
and  provided  that  meetings  of  directors  might  be 
held  abroad.  The  fact  that  the  Northern  Pacific 


288  MINNESOTA 

Eailroad  "  interest "  had  held  the  major  number 
of  shares  in  both  of  the  Minnesota  companies  does 
not  modify  the  foregoing  account,  but  points  to 
the  quarter  in  which  to  seek  for  the  residence  of 
responsibility,  in  part  at  least,  for  a  series  of  opera- 
tions hard  to  account  for  on  presumptions  of  hon- 
esty and  common  sense.  The  reader  may  be  curious 
to  follow  further,  on  a  subsequent  page,  the  story 
of  the  St.  Paul  and  Pacific. 

The  panic  of  1873  was  a  typical  example.  An 
era  of  great  prosperity  had  induced  a  fever  of 
speculation  which  had  spread  through  all  social 
strata.  Not  railroads  only  but  ships,  mills,  factories, 
mines,  fisheries,  farms  had  been  built  or  bought 
with  small  sums  of  ready  cash  and  large  sums  in 
mortgage  notes.  A  huge  cloud  of  debt  rested  over 
the  land.  Transactions  were  so  rapid  and  enormous 
that  bankers  loaned  out  their  swelling  deposits 
with  a  reckless  eagerness.  One  fine  morning  some 
conservative  inocitution  refused  a  new  discount  or 
declined  to  renew  a  customer's  paper.  That  cus- 
tomer could  not  pay  his  creditors,  and  those  could 
not  pay  theirs.  By  nightfall  alarm  had  spread 
wherever  the  telegraph  lines  extended.  The  next 
day  there  were  no  bank  deposits  of  cash,  and  credit 
transactions  ceased.  Securities  offered  on  the  mar- 
ket by  hard  pressed  debtors  began  to  drop,  and 
presently  all  forms  of  property  depreciated.  In  the 
general  distrust  which  ensued,  all  kinds  of  Indus- 


STORM  AND  STRESS  289 

tries  and  business  languished,  and  months  passed 
before  even  the  more  modest  of  credit  operations 
were  adventured.  Years  passed  before  the  full  tide 
of  prosperity  was  again  in  flow.  In  a  country  still 
new,  where  capital  was  small  and  opportunities 
for  credit  operations  great,  the  havoc  wrought  was 
extreme.  Liquidation  and  recovery  were  corre- 
spondingly tardy.  In  Minnesota  the  panic  was  ac- 
companied by  two  disasters  which  added  much  to 
the  general  discouragement. 

The  morning  of  January  7,  1873,  opened  clear 
and  bright  over  the  south  half  of  Minnesota,  with 
no  signs  of  foul  weather  in  the  sky.  The  country 
people  had  left  their  homes  on  their  usual  errands 
to  mill,  to  post-office,  to  town,  to  distant  wood  lots 
or  fields,  without  thought  of  danger.  Soon  after 
midday  those  who  were  still  on  the  road  were  over- 
taken by  one  of  those  terrible  winter  storms  known 
to  old  voyageurs  as  "  blizzards."  The  most  learned 
authority  in  America  on  English  usage  has  recently 
made  the  statement  that  the  word  ""  blizzard  "  is 
not  more  than  twenty-five  years  old.  It  was  in 
common  use  in  Minnesota  in  the  fifties.  In  a  true 
blizzard  the  air  is  so  completely  filled  with  a  fine 
granular  snow  as  to  cause  absolute  darkness.  It  is, 
as  on  this  occasion,  frequently  accompanied  by  a 
furious  wind.  The  temperature  may  or  may  not  be 
excessively  low.  The  voyageur  did  not  attempt  to 
travel  when  a  blizzard  overtook  him,  but  got  beliind 
and  beneath  such  shelter  as  he  could  find  or  make, 


290  MINNESOTA 

and  waited  for  it  to  blow  over.  These  inexperi- 
enced Minnesota  settlers  pressed  on,  wandered 
from  the  unfenced  roads,  and  if  they  found  shelter 
it  was  by  good  fortune.  Many  perished  in  the  ter- 
rible gusts  which  swept  the  prairie.  The  weather 
did  not  clear  till  the  third  day.  The  first  accounts 
estimated  the  number  of  lives  lost  at  many  hun- 
dreds, but  when  the  state  statistician  collated  the 
local  reports  sent  in  he  was  happy  to  find  that  not 
more  than  seventy  persons  had  perished.  A  much 
greater  number,  of  course,  were  frost-bitten  and 
maimed.  There  were  cases  in  which  farmers  had 
been  either  injured  or  destroyed  while  attempting 
to  reach  their  houses  from  their  barns  and  fields. 
There  has  been  no  blizzard  of  any  notable  severity 
in  Minnesota  since  this  of  1873. 

In  June  of  the  same  year  a  southwest  wind 
brought  over  the  western  border,  south  of  Big 
Stone  Lake,  swarms  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  locust 
(^Melanoplus  sjyretus),  which  soon  spread  them- 
selves over  large  parts  of  fourteen  southwestern 
counties  as  well  as  a  considerable  area  of  north- 
western Iowa.  Because  not  learned  enough  in. 
entomology  to  distinguish,  the  people  supposed 
these  locusts  to  be  grasshoppers,  and  soon  adopted 
the  abbreviated  form  "hoppers."  The  growing  crops 
were  presently  devoured.  Settlers  who  had  made 
their  first  plantings  were  impoverished  and  had  to 
accept  the  generous  aid  of  neighbors.  The  area 
visited  was  small  compared  with  that  of  the  state 


STORM  AND  STRESS  291 

and  its  settled  portions,  and  it  was  not  conceived 
that  grasshoppers  could  survive  a  Minnesota  winter. 
The  legislature  of  1874  made  an  appropriation  of 
$5000  to  relieve  cases  of  complete  destitution,  and 
another  of  $25,000  to  be  advanced  to  the  farmers 
for  the  purchase  of  seed. 

In  July  of  this  year  (1874),  to  the  astonishment 
of  ail,  innumerable  multitudes  of  "hojjpers"  sud- 
denly appeared  as  if  rising  out  of  the  ground ;  and 
they  did  so  rise.  In  the  previous  fall  the  female 
locusts  had  deposited  in  cylindrical  wells  about  an 
inch  deep  and  one  fourth  of  an  inch  in  diameter, 
hollowed  out  on  high  ground,  clusters  of  eggs  in- 
closed in  protecting  envelopes  and  covered  with 
soil.  The  midsummer  heat  hatched  these  e^ffs,  and 
the  brood  at  once  fell  on  the  growing  crops.  In  a 
few  days  not  a  spear  was  left  over  large  areas, 
and  the  hoppers  had  grown  wings.  Taking  wing 
as  if  by  a  common  inspiration,  they  flew  over  into 
Blue  Earth,  Sibley,  Nicollet,  and  Renville  coun- 
ties, where  they  repeated  the  devastation  of  the 
previous  season.  But  the  counties  thus  abandoned 
.were  again  in  many  places  infested  by  fresh  swarms 
from  the  southwest.  In  all  twenty-eight  counties 
were  visited  in  1874.  Upon  an  appeal  from  the 
governor  a  subscription  was  opened  for  the  relief 
of  stricken  settlers.  General  Sibley,  at  his  request, 
undertook  the  disbursement,  and  later  accounted 
for  il  9,000.  Tlie  legislature  of  the  following  winter 
set  aside  !|45,000  for  immediate  relief  and  $75,000 


292  MINNESOTA 

for  seed,  the  latter  sura  to  be  repaid  along  with 
taxes.  The  devastations  of  1875  did  not  extend 
more  widely  and  were  somewhat  less  damaging,  but 
they  added  not  a  little  to  the  discouragement  and 
gloom  resulting  from  the  panic. 

The  Republican  party  was  so  completely  in  the 
ascendant  in  the  seventies  in  ]Minnesota  that  the 
only  political  events  of  importance  were  those 
which  occurred  in  its  ranks.  United  States  Senator 
Daniel  S.  Norton  died  July  13,  1870,  and  it  fell 
to  the  legislature  assembling  in  the  January  fol- 
lowinsr  to  elect  his  successor.  It  took  but  a  sinfrle 
ballot  in  the  Republican  caucus  to  decide  who 
should  be  Senator  Ramsey's  colleague.  William 
WIndom  had  given  such  satisfaction  by  his  five 
consecutive  terms  as  representative  in  Congress 
from  the  first  district  that,  Mr.  Donnelly  being 
out  of  the  road,  there  was  none  to  dispute  his 
claim  to  the  promotion.  Mr.  Windom's  large  ac- 
quaintance, his  long  legislative  experience,  his  sound 
common  sense  and  Quaker  simplicity  of  manner  at 
once  fjave  him  a  staudinq-  at  the  other  end  of  the 
capitol  not  easily  accorded  to  new  senators. 

President  Grant  in  his  message  of  1872  advised 
the  Congress  to  authorize  a  committee  to  investi- 
gate the  various  enterprises  for  the  more  direct 
and  cheaper  transportation  of  the  products  of  the 
West  and  South  to  the  seaboard.  The  Senate  re- 
sponded by  the  appointment  of  a  select  committee 


STORM    AND   STRESS  293 

on  transportation  routes  to  the  seaboard,  with  am- 
ple powers  for  investigation.  Senator  Windom,  as 
chairman  of  this  committee,  devoted  many  months 
to  the  analysis  and  interpretation  of  the  great 
mass  of  information  and  counsel  submitted,  and  to 
the  preparation  of  the  report  in  two  octavo  vol- 
umes, printed  in  the  spring  of  1874.  Among  the 
novel  conclusions  of  this  committee  (and  some  of 
them  are  after  the  lapse  of  a  generation  not  familiar 
to  all)  were :  (1)  that  the  power  of  Congress  to 
regulate  commerce  among  the  several  states  in- 
cludes the  power  to  aid  and  facilitate  it  by  the 
improvement  or  creation  of  channels  and  ways  of 
transportation ;  Congress  has  the  same  right  to  build 
railroads  as  canals :  hence,  (2)  the  ownership  or 
control  of  one  or  more  double-track  freight  rail- 
ways ;  (3)  the  impi-ovement  of  our  great  natural 
water  ways  and  their  connection  by  canals  ;  (4)  par- 
ticularly the  improvement  of  four  great  channels 
at  national  expense.  These  were  the  Mississippi 
River  itself,  a  route  from  the  upper  Mississippi  by 
way  of  the  great  lakes,  a  route  from  the  same 
river  by  way  of  the  Ohio  and  Kanawha,  and,  last, 
a  route  from  the  Mississippi  via  the  Tennessee  ;  all 
to  be  pieced  out  either  by  canals  or  freight  roads. 
At  the  present  writing  Congress  is  just  warm- 
ing up  to  attack  the  first  of  these  four  great  en- 
terprises. 

As  might  be  supposed,  the  committee  incident- 
ally suggested  complete  publicity  of  all  interstate 


294  MINNESOTA 

railroad  classifications  and  rates,  the  prohibition  of 
combinations  with  parallel  or  competing  lines,  the 
receipt  for  and  delivery  of  grain  by  quantity,  the 
making  it  unlawful  for  railroad  officers  to  be  inter- 
ested in  car  or  freight  line  companies,  and  the 
absolute  cessation  of  stock  watering.  The  ])roposi- 
tion  of  a  bureau  of  commerce  to  supervise  all  inter- 
state railroad  operations  bore  fruit  twelve  years 
later  in  the  interstate  commerce  commission.  Sen- 
ator Hoar  declared  this  report  to  be  "the  most 
valuable  state  paper  of  modern  times." 

The  Minnesota  Republicans  from  the  beginning 
had  been  divided.  OjDposed  to  the  old  "  Ramsay 
dynasty,"  which  had  controlled  the  distribution  of 
government  appointments,  there  was  at  all  times 
an  array  of  patriotic  gentlemen  quite  willing  to 
enter  the  public  service,  believing  themselves  as  de- 
serving of  party  rewards  as  those  on  whom  Fortune 
had  smiled.  The  Civil  War  liberated  from  military 
service  many  ardent  young  Republicans  desirous 
and  capable  of  sharing  in  public  affairs.  Among 
these  was  a  St.  Paul  attorney,  Cushman  Kellogg 
Davis,  a  native  of  Wisconsin,  who  had  been  grad- 
uated from  the  University  of  Michigan.  He  had 
done  good  service  as  a  line  officer  in  a  Wisconsin 
regiment  and  as  a  staff  officer  under  General  Gor- 
man. His  ability  and  diligence  as  a  lawj^er  soon 
gained  him  prominence  at  the  bar,  and  his  per- 
sonal qualities  attached  to  him  a  circle  of  influen- 
tial friends.  He  was  not  greedy  for  minor  offices, 


STORM   AND  STRESS  295 

but  served  in  the  legislature  in  1867  and  was  ap- 
pointed, a  year  after,  United  States  district  attor- 
ney, at  the  instance  of  Senator  Ramsey.  A  lecture 
on  "Modern  Feudalism  "  first  delivered  in  1870,  in 
which  he  portrayed  the  growing  dominance  of  cor- 
porations, gave  proof  of  powers  of  insight  and 
analysis  above  the  ordinary.  When  the  Republican 
state  convention  met  in  St.  Paul  on  July  10, 1873, 
the  old  dynasty  had  no  other  expectation  than  that 
the  nomination  for  governor  would  fall  on  its 
worthy  favorite,  the  Hon.  William  D.  Washburn. 
Few  expected  that  Mr.  Davis,  whose  loudest  support 
had  come  from  an  independent  St.  Paul  newspaper, 
would  receive  more  than  a  complimentary  vote.  On 
the  informal  ballot  he  did  not,  nor  on  the  first  for- 
mal ballot.  Three  more  ballots  followed,  on  the  last 
of  which  the  favorite  of  the  "  young  Republicans  " 
was  nominated  by  a  vote  of  155  to  152,  154  being 
necessary  to  a  choice.  As  Mr.  Davis's  nomination 
came  by  a  slender  majority,  so  also  was  his  elec- 
tion secured  by  a  majority  of  about  one  fourth  of 
the  nominal  Republican  strength.  His  friends  had 
made  no  secret  that  the  governorship  was  desired 
by  them  merely  as  a  stepping-stone  to  a  national 
senatorship.  The  old  dynasty  evidently  did  not  ex- 
pend much  money  or  labor  on  that  election. 

Mr.  Davis's  governorsliip  during  the  years  1874- 
75,  a  period  of  depression  and  discouragement,  was 
not  marked  by  notable  events.  His  messages  were 
admirable  for  literary  style,  and,  while  counseling 


296  MINNESOTA 

economy  in  expenditure,  advised  liberality  towards 
the  schools  and  the  university.  His  radical  sugges- 
tion as  to  the  unfinished  St.  Paul  and  Pacific  Kail- 
road  was  that  the  bondholders  in  control  should 
presently  put  up  the  money  to  complete  the  lines, 
or  the  state  should  have  them  turned  over  to 
responsible  parties  who  would  do  so. 

Senator  Ramsey's  second  term  was  expiring  in 
March,  1875,  and  it  was  no  secret  that  he  desired  and 
expected  a  reelection.  Mr.  Davis  was  an  avowed 
aspirant,  but  there  were  other  gentlemen  who  did 
not  intend  that  the  choice  should  fall  to  him  in 
case  of  Mr.  Ramsey's  rejection.  The  Republican 
caucus  met  on  January  14,  1875.  Mr.  Ramsey's 
friends  were  far  in  the  lead,  and  on  the  last  vote  of 
the  session  lacked  but  two  votes  to  nominate.  Con- 
fident of  success,  they  consented  to  an  adjournment 
demanded  by  the  "field."  The  field  had  but  one  de- 
sire in  common,  to  get  Senator  Ramsey  out  of  their 
daylight.  On  reassembling  the  following  night  one 
third  of  the  members  were  absent  or  did  not  vote. 
The  two  votes  lacking  to  Mr.  Ramsey  on  the  previous 
evening  appeared,  and  he  was  formally  nominated. 
But  the  vote  did  not  compel  the  unanimous  sup- 
port of  the  Republican  members.  On  the  separate 
voting  in  the  two  houses  on  January  19,  Mr.  Ram- 
sey had  60  votes,  74  being  necessaiy  to  elect.  On 
the  20th  the  houses  met  in  joint  convention  and 
proceeded  to  ballot.  Mr.  Ramsey  received  61  votes, 
his  maximum.    Davis  received  24,  and  at  no  time 


STORM  AND   STRESS  297 

any  greater  number.  Mr.  Donnelly,  the  nominee 
of  the  Democrats  and  "  Greeleyized  Republicans," 
had  51  votes.  The  balloting  now  proceeded  from 
day  to  day,  on  most  days  but  one  being  had.  On 
the  27th  Mr.  Donnelly  withdrew,  alleging  that 
Democratic  members  failed  to  give  him  the  sup- 
port he  was  entitled  to  as  a  regular  nominee.  Hon. 
William  Lochren,  a  Civil  War  veteran  highly  re- 
spected for  personal  character  and  legal  ability,  was 
put  in  his  place  and  commanded  the  full  strength 
of  the  opposition,  sixty-four  votes.  On  February  13, 
after  seventeen  ballots,  Ramsey  and  Davis  were 
withdrawn,  but  it  was  not  till  the  19th  that  the 
eighty-two  Republican  votes  could  be  concentrated 
on  the  Hon.  S.  R.  J.  McMillan  of  Stillwater,  a 
highly  respected  citizen  and  a  judge  of  the  district 
court.  His  career  in  the  national  Senate,  by  no 
means  brilliant,  was  characterized  by  such  dili- 
gence, good  sense,  and  party  fidelity  that  there  was 
no  notable  opposition  to  his  reelection  six  years 
later.  Mr.  Davis  did  not  seek  reelection  as  gov- 
ernor, but  resumed  his  law  practice,  and  not  long 
after  published  an  ingenious  essay  on  "  The  Law 
in  Shakespeare." 

The  ambition  of  certain  young  men,  who  could 
well  afford  to  wait,  and  who  did  wait  for  promo- 
tion, lost  to  the  state  and  nation  the  services  of  a 
wise  and  experienced  legislator.  President  Hayes 
called  Mr.  Ramsey  into  his  cabinet  as  secretary  of 
war,  and  temporarily  devolved  on  him  the  duties 


298  MINNESOTA 

of  secretary  of  the  navy.  Retiring  from  public  life, 
he  continued  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  to 
enjoy  the  esteem  and  gratitude  of  citizens  of  all 
l^arties  and  persuasions.  For  many  years  he  pre- 
sided over  the  Minnesota  Historical  Society  and 
its  executive  council.    He  died  April  22,  1902. 

The  legislature  of  18G0  in  a  spasm  of  retrench- 
ment fixed  the  salary  of  the  state  treasurer  at  -$1000 
a  year,  and  it  remained  at  that  figure  for  a  quarter 
of  a  century.  The  business  and  responsibility  in- 
creased from  year  to  year,  but  no  addition  was  made 
to  compensation.  In  the  absence  of  express  prohibi- 
tory legislation  a  custom  grew  up  of  depositing  the 
state's  money  in  banks  which  paid  an  interest  to 
the  treasurer,  the  bank  proprietors  becoming  his 
sureties.  No  mischief  resulted  from  this  arrange- 
ment. But  in  one  case,  at  least,  that  of  Emil  Munch, 
a  treasurer  did  not  content  himself  with  merely 
depositing  in  banks,  but  in  private  enterprises  em- 
ployed the  state's  money  to  a  large  amount.  By 
contrivance  or  good  fortune  his  brother-in-law, 
"William  Seeger,  succeeded  him  in  office,  rather 
than  some  stranger.  This  relative  obligingly  took 
the  promissory  notes  of  his  predecessor  and  other 
"paper"  and  receipted  for  them  as  cash. 

The  treasurer's  report  for  1872  showed  a  balance 
of  cash  in  the  treasury  of  $243,000.  A  newspaper 
editor  in  St.  Paul,  with  no  other  motive  than,  in 
his  own  phrase,  "  to  raise  hell  and  sell  papers," 
gave  expression  to  the  open  secret  that  much  of 


STORM  AND  STRESS  299 

this  money  was  not  in  fact  in  the  treasury,  as  re- 
ported, and  challenged  the  Republican  legislature 
of  1873  to  investigate  the  Kepublican  treasurer. 
Nothing  less  could  in  decency  be  done,  and  the  in- 
vestigation revealed  a  shortage  of  -f  180,000.  The 
house  of  representatives  passed  a  resolution  of  cen- 
sure and  awaited  the  resignation  of  the  unlucky 
official.  No  resignation  appearing,  the  same  body 
on  March  4  made  an  "imperative  demand"  for 
one.  Mr.  Seeger  replied  in  writing,  admitting  that 
he  had  found  a  deficit  on  taking  office,  but  declaring 
that  every  dollar  had  been  made  good  and  the  state 
would  suffer  no  loss.  His  bondsmen  had  raised  and 
paid  in  the  money.  The  house,  howevei-,  could  not 
content  itself  with  restitution  alone,  and  submitted 
articles  of  impeachment  to  the  senate.  After  the 
trial  had  begun,  Mr.  Seeger  offered  his  resigna- 
tion, which  was  accepted  by  Governor  Austin.  The 
impeachment  proceedings,  however,  went  on  and 
resulted  in  a  conviction.  The  legislature  took  the 
obvious  lesson  to  heart,  and  raised  the  salary  of  the 
state  treasurer  to  #4000. 

Public  education  made  notable  progress  in  Min- 
nesota during  the  half  decade  beginning  with  Gov- 
ernor Austin's  administration.  The  services  of 
Horace  B.  Wilson  as  superintendent  of  public  in- 
struction during  the  period  advanced  the  good  work 
begun  by  his  predecessor.  Both  felt  obliged  to  argue 
the  cause  of  public  schools  to  be  kept  free  from 


300  MINNESOTA 

ecclesiastical  meddling.  It  was  not,  however,  till 
1877  that  the  amendment  to  the  state  constitution, 
forbidding  the  use  of  any  public  funds  or  property 
for  the  support  of  sectai'ian  schools  was  adopted 
by  the  electors.  Spite  of  much  unreasoning  preju- 
dice against  the  state  normal  schools,  they  pros- 
pered, but  were  inadequate  to  supply  the  demands 
of  over  three  thousand  common  schools  for  trained 
teachers. 

The  faculty  of  the  University  of  Minnesota,  who 
in  September,  1869,  enrolled  a  small  handful  of 
freshmen,  saw  that  dwindling  till  but  two  survived 
at  the  end  of  the  four-year  course,  to  be  graduated 
as  bachelors  in  June,  1873.  The  time  of  the  teachers 
was  spent  and  well  spent  on  the  prepay:'atory  stu- 
dents who  were  later  to  fill  the  college  classes.  The 
first  commencement  was  celebrated  with  no  little 
circumstance,  and  had  its  effect  on  a  public  not  yet 
certain  that  the  state  had  any  concern  with  college 
education.  That  question  was  much  debated  in 
those  years,  and  there  were  plentiful  outpourings 
of  orthodox  denunciation  of  the  state  university  as 
hopelessly  and  necessarily  "  infidel"  and  "godless." 
The  regents  were  affected  by  this  respectable  oppo- 
sition, and  unduly  moderated  their  requisitions  for 
appropriations. 

^  Upon  the  advice  of  the  president  of  the  uni- 
versity (the  author  of  this  book),  the  regents  in 
1870  prematurely  adopted  a  novel  plan  of  organ- 
ization. The  underlying  principle  was  the  fact  that 


STORM   AND   STRESS  301 

the  work  of  the  first  two  3'ears  in  American  colleges 
is  "secondary"  in  its  nature,  and  according  to 
any  scientific  arrangement  should  be  performed  in 
secondary  institutions.  They  therefore  merged  the 
studies  and  exercises  of  the  freshman  and  sopho- 
more years  with  those  of  the  preparatory  years  into 
a  so-called  "  Collegiate  Department."  The  plan  was 
approved  by  the  highest  educational  authorities  of 
the  country,  but  the  faculty,  conservative  and  in- 
disposed to  break  away  from  tradition,  could  not 
give  it  a  united  support.  There  were  but  trifling 
difficulties  of  operation,  but  when  a  new  adminis- 
tration came  in,  with  its  differing  interests,  the  plan 
was  allowed  to  lapse.  The  principle  has  since  been 
recognized  by  two  leading  American  universities.  ^ 

Account  has  already  been  taken  of  the  first  con- 
gressional land  grant,  that  of  February  19,  1851, 
"  reserving "  for  the  support  of  a  territorial  uni- 
versity seventy-two  sections  of  public  lands.  When 
the  enabling  act  of  1857  was  before  the  House  of 
Representatives,  Delegate  Henry  M.  Rice  secured 
a  modification  of  the  traditional  tender  of  lands  for 
university  purposes.  The  enabling  acts  of  Michigan, 
Wisconsin,  and  Iowa  had  provided  that  the  lands 
previously  reserved  from  sale  for  university  sup- 
port should  be  granted  and  conveyed  to  the  respect- 
ive states.  Delegate  Rice  quickly  saw  to  it  that 
the  corres])onding  section  of  the  Minnesota  act 
should  read,  "  that  seventy-two  sections  of  land 
shall  be  set  apart  and  reserved  for  the  use  and  sup- 


302  MINNESOTA 

port  of  a  STATE  university  to  he  selected  by  the 
governor  of  the  state.  .  .  ."  Why  no  claim  was 
presented  for  the  additional  university  reservation, 
apparently  authorized  by  the  enabling  act  of  1857, 
till  1860  is  not  known,  but  when  then  made,  it  met 
with  no  hospitality.  No  secretary  of  the  interior  or 
commissioner  of  the  general  land  office  would  con- 
strue the  paragraph  as  having  any  other  intent  than 
to  guarantee  to  the  state  the  reservation  of  1851 
made  to  the  territory.  The  correspondence  revealed 
the  fact  that  the  original  reservation  had  not  been 
"granted  and  conveyed"  to  the  state.  The  mort- 
gages placed  on  the  lands  and  the  devastations 
permitted  had  therefore  been  illegal.  It  took  an 
act  of  Congress,  that  of  March  2,  1861,  donating 
the  lands  reserved  in  1851,  to  remedy  this  omis- 
sion. 

Ten  years  ran  by  after  the  passage  of  the  enabling 
act,  and  Minnesota's  claim  for  a  double  portion  of 
university  lands  had  not  been  allowed.  On  Febru- 
ary 8,  1867,  the  legislature  authorized  the  special 
board  of  regents  to  employ  counsel  to  prosecute 
the  claim  on  "  a  contingent  compensation  in  land 
or  money."  The  person  employed  rendered  such 
effective  aid  to  the  member  from  the  university 
district  that  Congress  was  moved  to  direct  the 
commissioner  of  the  general  land  office,  by  an  act 
approved  July  8,  1870,  to  ignore  the  reservation 
of  1851  and  allow  Minnesota  to  take  the  seventy- 
two  sections  mentioned  in  the  enabling  act  of  1857. 


STORM  AND  STRESS  303 

The  successful  counsel  was  voted  by  the  regents  a 
compensation  of  1950  acres  of  land.  As  these  acres 
were  promptly  located  in  the  pine  region  of  Itasca 
County  it  may  be  assumed  that  the  remuneration 
was  satisfactory. 

Upon  the  initiative  of  the  president  of  the  uni- 
versity the  legislature  of  1872  authorized  a  geolo- 
gical and  natural  history  survey  of  the  state,  and 
placed  the  same  in  charge  of  the  board  of  regents. 
In  a  later  year  the  twelve  sections  of  land  donated 
by  Congress  in  the  enabling  act  of  1857  for  the 
development  of  possible  salt  springs  or  deposits, 
less  some  deductions  for  fruitless  exploitations,  were 
turned  over  to  defray  the  costs  of  the  survey.  Pro- 
fessor Newton  H.  Winchell  was  appointed  state 
geologist,  and  remained  in  office  for  twenty-four 
years.  The  geological  results  of  the  operations  con- 
ducted by  himself  and  assistants  may  be  found  in 
twenty-four  annual  reports,  ten  bulletins,  and  a  final 
report  in  seven  quarto  volumes.  Two  additional  vol- 
umes of  botany  and  one  of  zoology  were  published. 
Much  remains  to  be  done  on  the  natural  history 
branch,  and  important  geological  investigations  of 
scientific  interest  were  left  incomplete  when  that 
work  was  suspended.  The  survey  has  been  econom- 
ically worth  to  the  state  far  more  than  it  cost,  and 
the  reports  will  remain  as  a  noble  monument  to 
their  authors. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

CLEARING  UP 

When  the  Republican  state  convention  assembled 
on  July  28,  1875,  its  first  informal  ballot  virtually 
selected  the  successor  of  Cushman  K.  Davis  in  the 
governorship.  The  distinction  fell  on  John  Sar- 
gent Pillsbury,  who  had  proved  his  capacity  for 
public  affairs  by  ten  years'  service  in  the  state  sen- 
ate and  on  the  board  of  regents  of  the  university.  A 
successful  business  career,  a  reputation  for  inflex- 
ible integrity,  a  power  to  select  from  varied  propo- 
sitions the  one  which  could  be  carried  and  worked, 
and  a  keen  insight  into  human  nature  gave  him  an 
influence  with  legislatures  and  the  people  rarely 
equaled.  Two  reelections  were  accorded  him  as  by 
common  consent.  The-  varied  events  and  incidents 
of  his  six  years'  service  are  so  related  that,  while 
forming  a  whole,  they  may  be  thrown  into  con- 
venient groups. 

After  the  harvest  of  1875  Governor  Davis  ap- 
pointed a  commission  to  investigate  the  locust 
devastations,  and  placed  on  it  Allan  Whitman  of 
St.  Paul,  a  man  of  science.  The  report,  by  giv- 
ing in  simple  language  an  account  of  the  vermin, 
their  manner  of  propagation,  and  the  stages  of 


CLEARING   UP  305 

their  growth,  suggested  the  principles  upon  which 
their  ravages  might  be  restricted,  and,  when  new 
invasions  did  not  take  place,  actually  repressed. 
Early  in  the  season  of  1876  Governor  Pillslmry 
issued  a  proclamation  commending  to  the  farmers 
of  the  infested  districts  the  advice  of  the  commis- 
sion to  attack  the  "  hoppers  "  immediately  after 
hatching.  By  digging  ditches  around  fields  and 
gardens  not  infested,  the  vegetation  could  be  pro- 
tected. For  the  rescue  of  crops  somewhat  grown 
he  i-ecommended  a  simple  apparatus  which  got  the 
popular  name  of  "  hopperdozer."  It  consisted  of  a 
piece  of  sheet-iron  twelve  feet  long  or  more,  turned 
up  on  the  back  edge  and  ends.  By  means  of  ropes 
attached  to  the  front  edge,  at  or  near  the  ends,  it 
could  be  hauled  by  men  or  animals  over  the  sur- 
face of  the  field.  The  upper  surface  of  the  pan, 
smeared  with  coal  tar,  imprisoned  the  insects  till 
they  could  be  scraped  out  at  convenient  intervals. 
By  such  simple  devices  considerable  areas  of  crops 
were  rescued  from  total  destruction.  They  were  of 
course  useless  after  the  appearance  of  wings  on 
the  creatures ;  and  the  havoc  of  the  previous  sea- 
son was  repeated,  particularly  in  the  southwestern 
counties.  These  Governor  Pillsbury  visited  in  per- 
son, and,  after  witnessing  the  ruin  and  distress 
going  on,  called  for  contributions  in  relief.  The 
response  was  immediate  and  generous,  and  with 
the  aid  of  liis  wife  the  governor  attended  person- 
ally to  the  distribution.    The  damage  extended  iu 


306  MINNESOTA 

this  year  to  twenty-nine  counties  south  of  Otter 
Tail  Lake  and  west  of  the  watershed  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. The  worst  of  all  was  that  at  the  close  of  the 
season  these  counties  were  "  literally  peppered " 
with  locust  eggs.  The  outlook  for  the  coming  season 
caused  deep  anxiety.  The  legislature  of  1877  au- 
thorized a  loan  of  -175,000  to  be  advanced  to 
farmers  for  seed,  and  empowered  county  commis- 
sioners to  levy  a  tax  for  the  destruction  of  locusts 
and  their  eggs.  In  the  spring  the  hatching  began 
in  alarming  volume.  Governor  Pillsbury,  in  the 
expectation  that  the  expense  would  be  reimbursed, 
distributed  56,000  pounds  of  sheet  iron  and  3000 
barrels  of  coal  tar  for  "  dozers."  Where  these 
were  diligently  operated  the  damage  to  crops  was 
reduced. 

On  April  10,  1877,  in  response  to  an  expressed 
desire  of  various  religious  bodies.  Governor  Pills- 
bury  appointed  the  26th  of  that  month  as  a  day  of 
fasting,  humiliation,  and  prayer :  "  In  the  shadow 
of  the  locust  plague,"  said  he,  "  whose  impending 
renewal  threatens  the  desolation  of  the  land,  let  us 
humbly  invoke  for  the  efforts  we  make  in  our 
defense  the  guidance  of  that  hand  which  alone  is 
adequate  to  stay  the  pestilence."  The  day  was 
observed  in  a  goodly  number  of  congregations,  but 
there  was  no  great  and  general  humiliation  of  the 
people,  and  there  was  no  immediate  evidence  of 
supernatural  interference.  The  infernal  brood  grew 
winofs  and  beg;an  their  aerial  excursions  in  various 


CLEARING   UP  307 

directions.  In  the  last  days  of  June  the  swarms 
began  rising  high  in  the  air  and  taking  flight  on 
different  bearings.  In  the  course  of  sixty  days  all 
had  so  risen  and  flown  out  of  the  state  to  unknown 
destinations.  Although  they  had  wrought  damage 
equal  at  least  to  that  of  any  previous  year  of  their 
residence  in  Minnesota,  the  state  as  a  whole  har- 
vested the  greatest  wheat  crop  in  her  history,  — 
30,000,000  bushels,  of  sixty-three  pounds  to  the 
bushel. 

In  spite  of  the  ruin  wrought  in  so  large  a  portion 
of  her  territory,  and  of  minor  and  ordinary  losses, 
the  period  in  view  was  one  of  prosperity.  The 
population,  which  had  risen  from  439,706  in  1870 
to  597,407  in  1875,  increased  to  780,773,  accord- 
ing to  the  census  of  1880.  The  wheat  crop,  which 
had  been  30,000,000  bushels  in  1875,  touched 
40,000,000  in  1880.  The  most  striking  evidence 
of  material  development  is  seen  in  railroad  build- 
ing. In  the  four  years  1873-76  but  87  miles  had 
been  added  to  the  1900  miles  of  construction  in 
the  eleven  years  ending  with  1872.  This  mileage  was 
increased  in  the  six  years  beginning  with  1877  to 
3278 ;  446  were  added  to  the  St.  Paul  and  Pacific 
(now  Great  Northern)  system. 

How  a  corporation  left  in  the  panic  year  1873 
in  a  condition  of  hopeless  bankruptcy  was  resusci- 
tated and  put  into  vigorous  life  is  a  story  which 
the  reader  will  be  interested   in.  The  "  Division 


308  MINNESOTA 

roads,"  the  main  line  from  St.  Paul  to  Brecken- 
ridge  and  the  branch  to  St.  Cloud,  had  gone  into 
a  receiver's  hands  in  August,  1873.  The  "Exten- 
sions" to  St.  Vincent  and  Brninerd,  of  which  140 
miles  in  detached  portions  had  been  built,  remained 
in  the  control  of  the  stockholders  till  October, 
1876,  when  they  were  turned  over  to  trustees  of 
the  bondholders,  according  to  the  terms  of  the 
company's  contract  with  them.  These  trustees  em- 
ployed as  their  general  manager  the  same  gentle- 
man who  for  three  years  had  been  receiver  of  the 
Division  roads.  The  stockholders  having  given 
over  the  task  of  completing  the  roads  and  retaining 
ownership,  it  remained  for  the  bondholders  to  de- 
cide between  putting  in  several  more  millions  of 
dollars  to  complete  and  equip  the  roads,  or  giving 
up  and  letting  the  property  go  to  sale  under  pend- 
ing foreclosure  proceedings.  Had  they  taken  the 
former  course  and  selected  honest  and  capable 
agents,  they  would  have  not  merely  escaped  great 
losses  but  realized  large  profits.  The  greater  por- 
tion of  the  bonds  of  the  system,  over  #17,000,000, 
were  owned  in  Holland,  and  they  had  been  placed 
by  their  holders  in  the  hands  of  a  syndicate  of 
Dutch  bankers  to  be  controlled  for  the  common 
interest. 

The  drift  of  affairs  had  been  watched  by  three 
deeply  interested  persons.  Donald  A.  Smith,  re- 
siding at  Winnipeg  and  representing  that  city  in 
the  Dominion  parliament,  was  chief  commissioner 


CLEARING   UP  309 

of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  That  company  had 
many  millions  of  acres  of  land  in  Manitoba,  and 
was  desirous  to  obtain  railroad  connections  throufrh 
Minnesota  with  the  outside  world.  He  particularly 
desired  the  completion  of  the  St.  Vincent  Exten- 
sion. Another  was  Norman  W.  Kittson,  an  old 
associate  of  Sibley  in  the  fur-trade  and  politics, 
still  interested  in  the  lied  Kiver  trade.  The  third 
was  James  J.  Hill,  who  had  come  from  Canada  to 
Minnesota  as  a  boy  of  eighteen  in  1856.  He  had 
been  in  Mr.  Kittson's  employ  in  his  Red  Kiver 
business,  had  built  up  a  rival  line  of  steamboats 
and  barges,  and  made  it  for  Mr.  Kittson's  interest 
to  take  him  into  partnership.  These  three  men  had 
journeyed  up  and  down  the  Red  River  till  they 
knew  every  foot  of  the  stream  and  the  lands  drained 
by  it.  Early  in  1874  Mr.  Smith  asked  Messrs. 
Kittson  and  Hill  to  collect  for  him  all  the  informa- 
tion accessible  in  regard  to  the  St.  Paul  and  Pacific 
system,  its  lines  completed  or  unfinished,  its  termi- 
nals, equipment,  land  grants,  and  in  particular  the 
stock  and  bonds.  The  consultations  which  followed 
were  fruitless.  "  There  seemed  no  way  to  get  in." 

Two  years  later,  when  it  became  evident  that  the 
Dutch  bondholders  were  bound  to  realize  what 
they  could  and  let  the  properties  go,  there  appeared 
a  way  to  get  in.  1876  was  one  of  the  grasshopper 
years  in  Minnesota.  The  crop  was  light  and  prices 
were  low.  Rates  and  fares  were  so  high  as  to  dis- 
courajje   railroad    traffic.    The   net    earninirs    of 


310  MINNESOTA 

$300,000  on  the  system  were  a  drop  in  the  bucket 
compared  with  the  interest  charges  of  nearly 
12,000,000.  In  March,  1876,  Mr.  Hill  and  Mr. 
Smith  were  again  in  consultation,  and  resolved  on 
an  effort  to  obtain  control  by  buying  all,  or  nearly 
all,  the  bonds  held  in  Holland.  Delays  and  dis- 
couragements postponed  action.  It  was  not  till 
May,  1877,  that  Mr.  George  Stephen,  president  of 
the  Bank  of  Montreal,  was  induced  to  consider 
taking  a  hand  in  the  deal.  In  September,  after  a 
visit  to  Minnesota,  he  went  to  England  in  full  ex- 
pectation of  enlisting  the  necessary  capital,  the 
Dutch  committee  having  accepted  a  conditional 
offer  of  cash  for  their  holdings.  To  his  surprise 
Mr.  Stephen  found  no  English  capitalists  willing 
to  send  good  money  where  so  much  bad  money 
had  gone.  To  all  appearance  the  project  was  a 
failure.  The  associates,  however,  learning  that  the 
Dutch  were  still  fierce  to  sell,  submitted  to  them 
in  January,  1878,  a  proposition  to  buy  their  bonds 
at  agreed  prices  and  pay  in  the  bonds  of  a  new 
company  to  be  formed,  which  should  buy  the  pro- 
perties at  the  now  impending  foreclosure  sales.  As 
a  "  sweetener  "  they  were  willing  to  throw  in  f  250 
of  six  per  cent,  preferred  stock  with  every  $1000 
bond  of  the  new  company. 

In  the  articles  of  agreement  signed  March  13, 
1878,  the  Dutch  committee  agreed  to  this  proposi- 
tion and  consented  to  extend  the  time  of  payment 
for  their  bonds  six  months  after  the  last  of  the  six 


CLEARING   UP  311 

foreclosure  sales.  For  their  17,212  one  thousand 
dollar  bonds,  including  coupons  for  unpaid  interest, 
they  accepted  $3,743,150.  The  associates  bought 
large  amounts  of  "  minority  bonds "  at  similar 
figures.  As  they  agreed  to  pay  interest  on  the 
bonds  of  the  new  company  at  seven  per  cent.,  they 
were  empowered  to  take  immediate  control  and 
operation  of  the  completed  lines  and  to  resume 
construction  on  the  St.  Vincent  Extension,  whose 
completion  was  greatly  desired.  On  May  23, 1879, 
the  St.  Paul,  Minneapolis  and  Manitoba  Railway 
Company  was  organized,  and  at  the  foreclosure 
sales  in  the  following  month  bought  all  the  fran- 
chises and  assets  of  the  expiring  St.  Paul  and 
Pacific  Railroad  Company,  including  those  of  the 
Division  lines.  Mr.  James  J.  Hill  at  once  became 
the  general  manager  of  the  roads,  and  began  a 
career  of  railroad  operation  with  few  if  any  equals 
in  the  country.  Better  times  had  come,  but  it  was 
mainly  the  vigor,  economy,  and  discipline  of  the 
management  which  soon  swelled  the  earnings  into 
millions. 

The  great  financial  exploit  of  the  "  associates  " 
was  followed  by  tedious,  exasperating,  and  costly 
litigation.  About  the  time  of  the  foreclosure  sales 
in  June,  1879,  Jesse  P.  Farley,  who  had  been 
receiver  of  the  Extension  roads  and  general  man- 
ager of  the  Division  lines,  brought  suit  in  the  dis- 
trict court  of  Ramsay  County  against  Messrs. 
Kittson  and  Hill  to  recover  from  them  one  third 


312  MINNESOTA 

of  all  moneys,  securities,  and  effects  which  were 
accruing  to  them  from  the  operation.  In  his  com- 
plaint Mr.  Farley  alleged  that  "  in  the  summer  of 
1876  "  a  parol  agreement  had  been  made  by  the 
defendants  and  himself  to  undertake  jointly  the 
purchase  of  the  bonds  of  the  two  railroad  compa- 
nies, the  three  to  share  equally  in  the  net  proceeds. 
In  his  testimony,  he  deposed  that  the  two  defend- 
ants had  no  knowledge  of  the  great  opportunity 
until  revealed  by  him  at  the  time  mentioned.  It 
was  because  of  his  intimate  knowledge  of  the  affairs 
of  the  companies,  of  his  understanding  of  railroad 
finance,  and  his  long  experience  as  a  railroad  man- 
ager, that  they  were  unwilling  to  make  any  adven- 
ture without  his  cooperation  ;  and,  to  induce  him  to 
enter  into  the  contract,  they  agreed  to  consider  his 
knowledge  and  skill  equivalent  to  the  money  they 
would  severally  procure.  This  part  of  the  bargain 
was  to  remain  a  secret.  The  defendants  denied  that 
any  such  contract  had  been  made,  or  that  any  con- 
versation in  relation  to  such  an  agreement  had  ever 
been  had.  They  had  been  familiar  with  the  condi- 
tion and  finances  of  the  companies  long  before  the 
time  of  the  alleged  contract.  The  district  court 
found  in  favor  of  the  defendants,  as  also  did  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Minnesota  on  appeal.  The  Su- 
preme Court,  however,  appears  to  have  considered 
that  there  was  a  contract  between  the  parties,  but 
that  it  aborted  when  in  the  late  fall  of  1877  the 
"  associates  "  were  balked  in  the  effort  to  borrow 


CLEARING   UP  313 

money  in  England  with  which  to  buy  the  bonds 
for  cash. 

Encouraged  by  this  recognition  of  a  contract, 
Mr.  Farley  brought  suit  in  the  United  States  Dis- 
trict Court  for  Minnesota  in  December,  1881,  set- 
ting up  substantially  the  same  allegations.  Defeated 
here,  he  took  an  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  which  in  1887  remanded  the 
suit  to  the  Circuit  Court  for  a  novation  of  proceed- 
ings. The  printed  pleadings,  testimony,  exhibits, 
and  arguments  fill  more  than  five  thousand  octavo 
pages.  The  Circuit  Court  held  with  the  defendants 
that  no  contract  had  been  made,  and  that  the 
plaintiff,  standing  in  the  relation  of  a  trustee,  could 
not  honorably  or  legally  have  embarked  in  any  such 
enterprise. 

When  Farley's  appeal  reached  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  in  October,  1893,  that= 
tribunal  sustained  the  decision  of  the  Circuit  Court 
so  far  as  it  denied  the  making:  of  the  allejred  con- 
tract.  The  plaintiff  had  not  proven  his  allegations, 
and  his  story  was  inherently  improbable.  The  court 
had  no  occasion  to  pass  on  the  impropriety  of  an 
agreement  never  made. 

In  liis  inaugural  address  of  1870  Governor  Aus- 
tin mentioned  as  a  notorious  fact  tlie  fre([uency 
with  whicli  county  treasurers  retired  from  office 
with  much  more  wealth  than  they  ])ossessed  at  the 
time  of  their  elections.    To  secure  this  office,  cau- 


314  MINNESOTA 

cuses  and  conventions  were  packed  and  votes  se- 
cured by  methods  little  sHort  of  outright  bribery. 
But  there  was  no  response  from  the  legislature.  It 
was  not  till  Governor  Pillsbury's  second  term  that 
the  legislature  of  1878  yielded  to  his  urgent  recom- 
mendations and  passed  the  act  providing  for  a  pub- 
lic examiner.  It  was  made  the  duty  of  this  officer 
to  supervise  the  bookkeeping  of  all  state  banks 
and  institutions  and  all  state  and  county  auditors 
and  treasurers.  He  was  authorized  to  prescribe 
correct  and  uniform  methods  of  bookkeeping.  He 
was  required  to  visit  all  these  institutions  and  offi- 
cials without  previous  warning,  and  verify  and  in- 
spect all  the  moneys,  assets,  and  securities  held  by 
them  respectively.  His  powers  extended  to  railroad 
companies,  so  far  as  the  exaction  of  gross-earnings 
taxes  was  concerned.  The  first  appointee,  Henry 
M.  Knox,  performed  the  duties  with  such  intel- 
ligence and  industry  as  to  place  the  state  under 
lasting  obligations.  In  his  last  message  (1881) 
Governor  Pillsbury  expressed  his  satisfaction  over 
the  operation  of  the  law  by  saying :  "  No  single  act 
of  legislation  in  this  state  has  ever  been  produc- 
tive of  more  good  in  purifying  the  public  service 
than  the  creation  of  the  office  of  public  examiner." 
The  penalty  for  homicide  in  the  first  degree  had, 
from  the  beginning  of  organized  government  in 
Minnesota,  been  death  without  alternative.  An  act 
of  March  6,  1868,  laid  on  the  trial  jury  the  duty  of 
deciding  whether  the  convicted    murderer  should 


CLEARING   UP  315 

suffer  death  or  imprisonment  for  life.  Governor 
Davis  in  two  messages  strongly  denounced  this 
leaving  the  penalty  for  murder  to  the  caprice  of 
juries,  citing  a  case  in  which  one  of  three  con- 
victs equally  guilty  was  put  to  death,  while  the 
others  received  a  sentence  of  life  imprisonment.  A 
tragical  incident  brought  the  attention  of  a  later 
legislature  to  the  matter  and  caused  a  return  to 
traditional  policy.  On  September  6,  187G,  eight 
men  from  Missouri,  armed  and  mounted,  rode 
into  the  village  of  Northfield  in  Rice  County.  Two 
of  their  number  entered  the  bank  and  ordered 
Heywood,  the  cashier,  to  deliver  the  money.  On 
his  refusal  they  shot  him  dead  and  wounded  his 
assistant.  Securing  a  small  amount  of  booty,  the 
robbers  passed  out  to  find  their  companions  en- 
gaged in  a  fusillade  with  citizens  who  had  found 
arms  and  chosen  points  of  vantage.  One  unarmed 
citizen  had  fallen,  and  two  of  the  bandits  had 
dropped  dead  from  their  horses.  The  survivors 
rode  away  with  all  possible  speed,  firing  at  citizens 
who  showed  themselves  on  the  streets.  After  a  pur- 
suit of  some  days,  four  of  the  bandits  were  sur- 
rounded in  a  swamp  near  Mankato.  One  was  killed 
and  three  brothers  named  Younger  were  captured. 
Two  had  evaded  pursuit  and  esca])ed  from  the  state. 
Upon  arraignment  the  three  Youngers  pleaded 
guilty,  and,  as  there  was  no  occasion  for  a  jury, 
received  sentences  of  life  imprisonment.  They  wore 
model  prisoners.  One  died  in  1889,  another  com- 


316  MINNESOTA 

mitted  suicide  in  1902,  and  the  third  was  pardoned 
in  1903. 

The  political  campaign  of  1878  in  the  third  (the 
Minneapolis)  district,  was  diversified  by  a  personal 
contest  of  more  than  local  interest.  The  Kepubli- 
can  candidate  for  representative  in  Congress  was 
William  D.  Washburn,  who  had  been  an  aspirant 
in  1868,  but  declined  the  candidacy  because  of  the 
great  defection  led  by  Ignatius  Donnelly.  The 
Democrats,  doubtless  according  to  an  understand- 
ing, made  no  nomination,  thus  virtually  throwing 
the  party  vote  over  to  Mr.  Donnelly,  who  had  been 
named  as  the  candidate  of  the  Greenback  Labor 
party.  Ignoring  national  issues,  Mr.  Donnelly  ap- 
peared as  the  champion  of  the  Minnesota  farmers 
oppressed  by  the  railroads  and  the  Minneapolis 
Millers'  Association.  It  was  charged  and  widely 
credited  that  this  organization  was  fixing  the 
prices  of  wheat  at  every  railroad  station  in  the 
state.  This  it  was  doing  by  direct  dictation  to  buy- 
ers, and  also  indirectly  through  the  making  of 
grades.  There  was  in  use  for  inspection  and  grad- 
ing a  small  cylindrical  vessel  of  brass  with  an  at- 
tached scale  beam,  which  the  farmers  were  told 
could  be  so  manipulated  by  a  practiced  hand  that 
it  would  yield  three  grades  of  wheat  from  the  same 
bag  full.  It  was  charged  that  the  association  buyers 
not  only  undergraded,  but  also  reduced  the  prices 
for  lower  grades  out  of  all  just  proportion.  Mr. 


CLEARING  UP  317 

Donnelly  never  had  a  finer  opportunity  for  the  ex- 
ercise of  his  unequaled  powers  of  ridicule  and  in- 
vective. He  denounced  his  opponent  as  the  willing 
tool  of  the  corporations  and  the  Millers'  Associa- 
tion. He  perambulated  the  district  haranguing 
great  crowds,  whom  he  convulsed  with  scornful 
tirades  upon  "  the  swindling  brass  kittle." 

The  "brass  kittle  campaign,"  however,  resulted 
simply  in  reducing  the  normal  Republican  majority 
of  the  district  from  10,000  to  3003  votes.  But  Mr. 
Donnelly  obtained  a  majority  of  nearly  500  of  the 
country  vote.  When  Congress  met  in  December, 
1879,  Mr.  Donnelly  appeared  as  a  contestant.  He 
claimed  that  the  count  had  gone  against  him  by 
reason  of  illegal  ballots,  of  bribery,  and  of  the  col- 
onization of  voters.  The  House  committee  on  elec- 
tions lingered  long  in  their  investigation,  partly 
because  it  was  diversified  with  an  episode  which 
for  the  time  attracted  more  interest  than  the  con- 
test itself.  A  letter  addressed  to  the  chairman  of 
the  committee,  Springer  of  Illinois,  made  him  an 
offer  of  $5000  to  keep  Washburn  in  his  seat.  The 
authorship  was  later  fixed  by  a  special  committee 
of  investigation  on  one  Finley,  a  friend  of  Don- 
nelly. They  did  not  find  that  Mr.  Donnelly  had 
inspired  the  letter  or  had  known  tliat  it  was  to  be 
written  and  sent.  The  alleged  object,  of  course, 
was  to  so  incense  Springer  against  Mr.  Washburn 
that  he  would  immediately  swing  his  committee 
for  the  innocent  contestant. 


318  MINNESOTA 

Still  it  was  a  Democratic  House,  willing,  ac- 
cording to  abundant  precedent,  to  seat  its  partisan 
contestant  if  any  plausible  explanation  could  be 
invented.  On  the  last  day  of  the  session  two  reports 
came  in  from  the  committee  on  elections,  each 
signed  by  five  members.  The  committee  had  ar- 
rived at  no  conclusion.  The  House  ordered  the  re- 
ports printed  and  recommitted,  and  that  was  the 
last  ever  heard  of  the  contest.  Mr.  Washburn 
served  out  the  term  with  great  satisfaction  to  his 
constituents,  and  was  accorded  two  reelections  by 
majorities  which  nobody  had  occasion  to  question. 

Ignatius  Donnelly  thus  closed  his  career  in  na- 
tional politics.  He  appeared  later  in  two  or  more 
state  legislatures,  and  was  editor  of  several  short- 
lived weekly  newspapers.  In  early  life  he  had  pub- 
lished a  small  volume  of  poems  and  some  prose 
essays  in  which  he  gave  assurance  of  literary  ability. 
His  occupation  as  statesman  gone,  he  now  turned 
to  authorship.  In  the  winter  of  1880-81  he  com- 
posed a  geographical  romance,  entitled  "  Atlantis, 
the  Lost  Continent."  He  dressed  the  ancient  clas- 
sical legend  in  such  attractive  garb  as  to  interest  a 
great  body  of  readers,  serious  and  other.  Many 
editions  have  been  published.  This  work  was  fol- 
lowed by  another,  similar  in  character,  under  the 
title  of  "  Ragnarok."  The  author  elaborated  the 
ingenious  theory  that  the  mantle  of  drift  covering 
large  portions  of  the  northern  hemisphere  had  been 
landed  where  it  lies,  when  the  earth  at  some  time 


CLEARING  UP  319 

crossed  the  orbit  of  some  great  meteor.  This  fasci- 
nating book  was  also  widely  read.  Mr.  Donnelly 
next  took  up  the  study  of  a  question  which  had 
already  been  among  his  recreations,  that  of  the 
authorship  of  the  plays  and  poems  of  Shakespeare. 
His  "Great  Cryptogram"  of  a  thousand  octavo 
pages  contains  the  results  of  "an  incalculable  labor, 
reaching  through  many  weary  years."  In  the  first 
part  of  King  Henry  the  Fourth,  Mr.  Donnelly  pro- 
fessed to  have  discovered  the  key  to  an  involved 
cipher  showing  that  Francis  Bacon,  Nicholas  Bacon's 
son,  had  a  mysterious  connection  with  that  work, 
althouah  makinjj  no  clear  and  direct  claim  to  its 
authorship.  There  was  a  bewildering  array  of  "  root 
numbers  "  and  "  modifying  numbers,"  beyond  the 
understanding  of  the  wayfaring  man.  No  hidden 
secrets  were  revealed  by  the  ingenious  and  compli- 
cated computations,  and  no  additions  to  historical 
knowledge  were  obtained.  But  Mr.  Donnelly  only 
claimed  to  have  made  a  small  beginning  of  a  great 
work  left  to  future  investigators.  The  book,  however, 
excited  great  interest  among  people  concerned  with 
the  Bacon-Shakespeare  controversy,  and  formed  a 
notable  addition  to  that  literature.  In  1889  the 
indefatigable  author  brought  out  a  novel  under 
the  title  "  Cajsar's  Column,"  being  a  graphic  and 
horrible  picture  of  the  fancied  results  of  the  sway 
of  an  unbridled  plutocracy  in  America.  Published 
at  a  happy  moment,  the  book  was  sold  by  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  copies,  not  only  in  America,  but  in 


320  MINNESOTA 

translated  versions  in  Europe.  The  first  edition 
appeared  under  the  name  of  Edmund  Boisgill)ert, 
and  the  author  had  no  little  difficulty  in  finding  a 
publisher.  In  another  novel,  "  Dr.  Iluguet,"  the 
author  appealed  for  a  humaner  treatment  of  people 
of  color,  but  the  public  did  not  respond  by  buying 
largely.  Later  ephemeral  volumes  and  pamphlets 
added  nothing  to  the  repute  of  a  Minnesota  author 
known  wherever  the  English  tongue  was  spoken. 

The  superintendent  of  public  instruction  during 
the  Pillsbury  administrations  was  the  Rev.  David 
Burt.  Although  his  education  was  clerical  and  his 
educational  experience  brief,  by  a  conscientious 
devotion  to  the  novel  duties  he  carried  forward 
successfully  the  work  of  his  predecessors.  He  did 
much  to  annul  the  chronic  opposition  to  the  normal 
schools,  and  justified  the  regents  of  the  university 
in  asking  more  liberal  appropriations  for  buildings 
and  appliances,  in  spite  of  the  small  numbers  of  its 
early  graduating  classes.  He  persuaded  the  legis- 
lature with  no  little  persistence  that  the  common 
school  fund  should  be  distributed  to  the  districts 
according  to  the  number  of  children  attending,  and 
not  according  to  the  census  of  those  of  school  age. 

The  legislature  of  1877,  acting  under  an  amend- 
ment to  the  constitution  adopted  two  years  before, 
extended  to  women  the  right  to  vote  on  all  measures 
relating  to  schools,  including  the  choice  of  school 
officers ;  and  "  to  hold  any  office  pertaining  solely 


CLEARING  UP  321 

to  the  management  of  schools."  A  later  constitu- 
tional change  extended  this  privilege  to  library 
officers  and  measures.  It  has  been  effectively  exer- 
cised in  but  few  instances. 

In  his  annual  message  for  1874  Governor  Austin 
advised  the  legislature  that  the  text-books  used  in 
the  common  schools  were  sold  to  parents  at  exorbi- 
tant prices  fixed  by  a  convention  of  the  publishing 
craft,  but  made  no  definite  suggestion  for  relief. 
Ignatius  Donnelly,  who  was  in  the  state  senate  con- 
tinuously from  1874  to  1878,  took  the  lead  in  an 
effort  to  emancipate  the  people  from  the  tyranny 
of  the  school-book  ring.  His  favorite  plan  was  to 
have  the  state  print  books  prepared  by  competent 
experts  and  distribute  them  free  to  the  schools. 
Two  bills  for  this  purpose  were  passed  by  the  senate 
and  defeated  in  the  house.  In  1877  a  well-known 
book  dealer  of  St.  Paul  came  forward  with  a  pro- 
position to  furnish  text-books  as  good  as  those  in 
use  for  half  the  prices  exacted,  provided  he  could 
have  a  fifteen-year  contract.  To  this  the  legislature 
agreed,  and  the  contract  was  made  and  executed. 
Mr.  Donnelly's  biographer  claims  that  the  saving 
to  the  state  in  that  term  was  at  least  $2,839,765. 
There  is  no  positive  evidence  of  the  allegations 
that  large  amounts  of  money  were  used  to  defeat 
the  bill. 

In  all  the  territories  of  the  Northwest  as  they 
were  successively  carved  out  of  the  old  Northwest 
Territory,  provisions  were  made  in  their  organic 


322  MINNESOTA 

acts  for  universities,  to  be  endowed  by  grants  of 
land  from  the  general  government.  That  univer- 
sities could  not  in  fact  appear  and  exist  until  after 
the  development  of  fitting  schools  did  not  trouble 
the  pioneers,  intent  chiefly  on  getting  the  lands. 
The  reliance  of  American  colleges  generally  for 
the  preparation  of  their  students  had  been  upon 
the  excellent  academies,  controlled  or  countenanced 
by  Christian  denominations,  which  were  the  orna- 
ments of  so  many  eastern  villages.  The  academy 
did  not  multiply  nor  flourish  in  the  West.  Ambi- 
tious cities  existing  on  highly  colored  lithographic 
maps  could  tolerate  nothing  less  than  a  college 
or  university.  A  score  of  them  were  chartered  in 
Minnesota  in  the  fifties.  All  the  western  colleges 
were  obliged  to  open  preparatory  departments, 
and  it  may  be  said  that  they  have  never  done  more 
useful  service  than  in  thus  setting  patterns  for 
the  secondary  education  of  the  future.  When  the 
University  of  Minnesota  began  college  work  in 
1869  there  were  practically  no  efficient  preparatory 
schools  in  the  state.  After  a  study  of  the  situation 
the  president  of  the  university  formed  the  opinion 
that  it  was  to  the  budding  high  schools  of  the  state 
that  the  university  must  look  for  its  supply  of 
students  prepared  for  college  work.  At  the  state 
teachers'  convention  of  1872  that  body  was  asked 
by  a  committee  from  the  board  of  regents  to  join 
in  an  endeavor  to  bring  about  a  vital  organic  con- 
nection between  the  high  schools  and  the  univer- 


CLEARING  UP  323 

sity.  It  was  not  proposed  that  these  schools  should 
be  made  over  into  mere  "  fitting  schools,"  but  that, 
while  performing  their  great  function  as  "  people's 
colleges,"  they  should  accommodate  those  worthy 
and  ambitious  youth  desirous  to  carry  their  school 
and  professional  educations  still  farther.  The  idea 
was  not  unwelcome,  but  it  was  not  easy  to  work 
out  a  plan  of  vital,  organic  connection.  Yet  one 
was  worked  out,  embodied  in  a  bill  drawn  by  the 
head  of  the  university,  and  laid  before  the  legis- 
lature of  1878.  The  law  enacted  provided  for  a 
money  payment  out  of  the  state  treasury  to  any 
high  school  which,  having  the  proper  faculty  and 
equipment,  would  maintain  preparatory  courses  of 
study,  and  admit  thereto  pupils  of  both  sexes  from 
any  part  of  the  state,  free  of  tuition.  The  schools 
were  obliged  to  submit  to  inspection  and  make 
reports  to  the  "high  school  board."  Tiie  high 
schools  of  cities  and  villages  were  thus  employed 
as  the  state's  agencies  for  extending  free  second- 
ary education  to  all  the  youth  of  the  state.  A  be- 
ginning was  made  under  the  law  in  the  year  of  its 
passage,  but  owing  to  an  omission  in  an  appropria- 
tion bill  it  was  not  put  into  full  and  effective  oper- 
ation till  1881.  The  results  have  fully  equaled  all 
reasonable  expectations.  The  university,  the  high 
schools,  and  the  common  schools  of  Minnesota 
have  been  converted  from  a  loose  aggregation  into 
a  complete,  harmonious,  organized  system.  There 
is  open  to  every  child  of  the  state  a  course  of  free 


324  MINNESOTA 

school   education  from   the  kindergarten    to   the 
doctorate  of  philosophy. 

On  May  2,  1878,  soon  after  seven  o'clock  in  the 
evening  an  explosion  took  place  in  the  Washburn 
flour  mill  in  Minneapolis.  The  report  was  heard 
at  great  distances,  the  windows  in  neighboring 
streets  were  shattered,  and  not  one  stone  of  the 
great  building  was  left  on  another  above  the  foun- 
dations. Two  other  mills  of  less  capacity,  standing 
near,  blew  up  within  a  few  seconds,  and  three 
others  took  fire  and  were  completely  destroyed.  It 
was  the  hour  for  the  change  of  shift  of  day  to 
night  crews,  or  many  more  than  eighteen  men 
would  have  lost  their  lives.  The  insurance  com- 
panies, when  called  upon  to  pay  their  losses,  de- 
murred, taking  the  ground  that  they  had  insured 
against  fire  only,  and  not  against  chemical  explo- 
sion. Mr.  Louis  Peck,  the  instructor  in  physics  in 
the  University  of  Minnesota,  attracted  by  the  prob- 
lem, conducted  an  exhaustive  course  of  experiments 
to  ascertain  the  truth  of  the  matter.  Some  of  them 
were  exhibited  to  the  public.  His  conclusion  was 
that  the  mills  were  destroyed  by  a  true  fire.  He 
found  that  any  carbonaceous  dust,  flour,  starch,  or 
even  sawdust,  diffused  through  the  atmosphere, 
would  take  fire  and  burn  with  an  incalculable 
rapidity  from  a  spark  or  flame.  His  testimony 
compelled  the  payment  of  the  insurances.  The 
statement  of  a  Minnesota  historian  that  this  excel- 


CLEARING  UP  325 

lent  bit  of  scientific  work  was  done  by  a  professor 
in  Berlin  is  erroneous. 

Even  more  disastrous  was  a  fire  which  on  No- 
vember 15,  1880,  destroyed  a  wing  of  the  hospital 
for  the  insane  at  St.  Peter.  Twenty-seven  patients 
lost  their  lives.  The  state  capitol,  erected  in  1853, 
took  fire  in  the  evening  of  March  1,  1881,  while 
the  senate  was  in  session,  and  was  completely  de- 
stroyed. Fortunately  no  lives  were  lost,  but  the 
senators  made  their  escape  none  too  soon.  The 
ceiling  fell  as  the  last  of  them  reached  the  street. 

The  Fourth  of  July,  1880,  was  the  two  hun- 
dredth anniversary  of  the  discovery  of  the  Falls  of 
St.  Anthony  by  Father  Louis  Hennepin.  The  event 
was  commemorated  by  a  celebration  held  on  the 
university  campus,  under  the  management  of  the 
Minnesota  Historical  Society,  General  Sibley  pre- 
siding. The  principal  address  was  delivered  by 
Mr.  Cushman  K.  Davis.  Archbishop  Ireland  chari- 
tably defended  the  Franciscan  father  from  charges 
of  untruthfulness  on  the  ground  that  unauthor- 
ized interpolations  were  made  in  his  original  book. 
General  William  T.  Sherman  was  present,  and  was 
heard  in  some  happy  extemporaneous  remarks. 

The  reader  already  knows  how  the  people  of  Min- 
nesota, believing  themselves  to  have  been  tricked 
and  swindled  by  a  combination  of  corrupt  politicians 
and  greedy  railroad  operators,  forbade  in  1860,  by 
a  constitutional  amendment,  their  legislature   to 


326  MINNESOTA 

make  any  provision  for  redeeming  the  special  Min- 
nesota state  railroad  bonds  without  their  affirma- 
tive vote.  The  holders  of  the  bonds  refrained  from 
attempts  to  secure  recognition  of  their  claims  till 
after  the  close  of  the  Civil  War.  The  legislature  of 
18G6  yielded  to  their  urgency  so  far  as  to  appoint 
a  commission  to  ascertain  who  were  then  holding 
the  bonds  and  at  what  prices  they  had  obtained 
them.  The  working  members  of  the  commission 
were  John  Nicols  and  General  Lucius  F.  Hubbard. 
It  was  in  this  year  that  the  discovery  occurred  of 
500,000  acres  of  public  land  coming  to  the  state 
under  the  forgotten  act  of  1841.  On  Governor 
Marshall's  recommendation  the  legislature  of  1867, 
without  waiting  for  the  report  of  the  Nicols  com- 
mission, joyously  devoted  those  acres  to  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  bonds.  Under  the  constitutional  amend- 
ment of  1860  the  act  had  to  run  the  gauntlet  of 
popular  vote.  The  electors  turned  down  the  bill 
by  a  decisive  majority. 

The  Nicols  commission  reported  to  the  legisla- 
ture of  1868  that  they  had  found  1840  of  the  2275 
bonds  in  the  hands  or  control  of  106  persons.  The 
largest  holder  was  Selah  Chamberlain  of  Ohio,  who 
had  held  the  largest  contracts  for  construction.  He 
averred  that  his  bonds  had  cost  him  "  more  than 
par  "  for  work  done  and  material  furnished ;  and 
claimed  the  whole  amount  with  interest  to  date  as 
justly  due  him.  Other  holders  had  obtained  their 
bonds  by  purchase  as  low  as  seventeen  and  one 


CLEARING   UP  327 

half  cents  on  the  dollar.  In  response  to  allegations 
frequently  repeated,  that  the  grading  done  by  Mr. 
Chamberlain  for  three  of  the  four  companies  had 
never  cost  $9500  a  mile,  the  commission  employed 
an  experienced  engineer  to  examine  the  work  and 
make  an  estimate  of  wliat  it  should  reasonably  have 
cost.  His  figure  was  i2843.42  per  mile.  The  report 
of  the  Nicols  commission  did  much  to  confirm  the 
Minnesota  people  in  the  conviction  that  the  men 
who  had  tricked  and  cheated  them  had  no  standing 
as  honest  creditors.  Governor  Marshall,  however, 
believing  tliat  the  innocent  holders  for  value  at 
least  had  just  claims,  urged  the  legislature  to  use 
the  internal  improvement  lands  to  satisfy  their 
claims.  An  absurd  bill  of  18G9  he  felt  obliged  to 
disapprove.  Another  of  1870,  passed  in  response 
to  an  appeal  in  his  closing  message,  proposing  to 
turn  over  the  lands  at  a  price  which  would  pro- 
duce a  sum  sufficient  to  pay  the  bonds,  became  a 
law  and  was  ratified  by  a  large  majority  of  the  elec- 
tors voting  thereon.  The  legislature  had  imposed 
the  condition  that  the  act  should  not  be  in  efifect 
until  at  least  2000  bonds  had  been  offered  for 
redemption.  But  1032  were  turned  in,  and  the  act 
was  futile.  Governor  Austin  expressed  his  regret 
that  the  bondholders  were  unwilling  to  accept  so 
"fair  and  equitable  a  compromise."  The  legislature 
of  1871  entertained  a  new  proposition.  The  bill 
introduced  provided  for  a  commission  whose  first 
duty  should  be  to  ascertain  and  decide  whether  the 


328  MINNESOTA 

bonds  were  a  le<^al  and  equitable  obligation  against 
the  state.  If  the  decision  should  be  affirmative, 
the  commission  was  to  award  to  each  holder  the 
amount  due  him  on  the  basis  of  cost,  and  deliver 
to  liim  proper  amount  of  new  state  bonds.  The 
railroad  taxes  were  to  be  devoted  to  the  redemption 
of  the  new  bonds.  General  Sibley  had  left  his 
retirement  and  taken  a  seat  in  the  house  of  repre- 
sentatives because  of  his  desire  to  see  the  old  bond 
matter  settled.  He  had  never  wavered  from  his 
opinion  that  the  state  was  a  debtor  to  the  full 
amount  of  the  bonds  issued.  But  for  his  influence 
the  bill  could  not  have  passed.  He  would  not  be- 
lieve that  Minnesota  would  not  at  some  time  pay 
what  she  had  promised  to  pay.  Could  he  so  believe, 
he  declared  in  his  speech,  he  would  emigrate  to 
some  community  in  which  he  would  not  suffer  the 
"  intolerable  humiliation  "  of  living  in  a  "  repudi- 
ating state  frowned  on  by  a  just  and  righteous  God 
and  abhorred  by  man."  Governor  Austin,  although 
he  sympathized  with  the  popular  feeling,  did  not 
disapprove  the  bill,  but  let  it  go  to  be  mercilessly 
slaughtered  at  the  polls.  The  people  would  not  pay 
mere  paper  obligations  without  right  or  equity  be- 
hind them.  Such  they  held  the  bonds  to  be. 

Having  failed  to  obtain  satisfaction  from  the 
political  authorities,  the  claimants  presently  resorted 
to  the  courts.  In  1873  Mr.  Chamberlain,  their  repre- 
sentative, sued  the  St.  Paul  and  Sioux  City  Rail- 
road Company  to  recover  from  that  company  as 


CLEARING   UP  329 

assignee  of  a  portion  of  the  land  grant,  which  he 
claimed  to  be  still  subject  to  the*  mortgages  au- 
thorized by  the  "  five  million  loan  bill."  The 
decision  went  against  him  in  the  Circuit  Court  of 
the  United  States,  and  he  took  an  appeal  to  the 
Supreme  Court,  to  be  there  finally  defeated.  Both 
of  these  courts,  however,  took  opportunity  to  de- 
clare that  the  bonds  were  legal  obligations,  and 
that  if  the  state  of  Minnesota  were  suable  no  court 
of  justice  could  refuse  to  adjudge  her  to  pay.  "Jus- 
tice and  honor  alike  "  bound  her  to  redeem  her 
bonds.  The  state  of  Minnesota  was  thus  branded 
by  the  highest  judicial  tribunals  of  the  land  as 
a  defaulting,  repudiating  state,  regardless  of  the 
claims  of  honor  and  justice.  These  opinions  —  they 
were  not  decrees  —  had  little  effect  on  the  Minne- 
sota people,  most  of  whom  never  heard  of  them, 
but  they  did  affect  the  minds  of  many  of  her  public 
men,  who  smarted  under  the  reproaches  they 
could  not  help  but  hear.  Governor  Davis  in  his 
retiring  message  urged  the  establishment  of  a 
commission  to  arbitrate  between  the  bondholders 
and  the  state.  Governor  Pillsbury  in  his  inaugural 
address  urged  the  payment  of  the  bonds  in  full,  to 
redeem  the  reputation  of  the  state.  To  these  ap- 
peals the  legislators  gave  no  heed.  To  the  legis- 
lature of  1877  Mr.  Chamberlain  for  himself  and 
others  submitted  an  offer  to  cut  their  claims  in 
two  and  accept  new  six  per  cent,  bonds  in  pay- 
ment. To  this  the  legislature  promptly  agreed,  but 


330  MINNESOTA 

the  electors  in  the  following  November  put  their 
veto  on  the  bill.  They  did  the  same  thing  to  an  act 
of  1878  providing  for  an  exchange  of  internal 
improvement  lands  for  the  bonds,  differing  in  par- 
ticulars from  a  previous  act  of  the  same  general 
tenor. 

In  his  messages  of  1879  and  1881  Governor 
Pillsbury,  under  the  heading  of  "  Dishonored 
Bonds,"  entreated  and  implored  the  legislatures  to 
pay  the  honest  debt  of  the  state  and  clear  her  tar- 
nished honor.  His  earnest  and  impressive  appeals 
had  no  effect  on  the  former  of  the  two,  but  the 
legislature  of  1881  was  moved  to  provide  for  a 
special  tribunal,  to  be  composed  of  judges  of  the 
supreme  and  district  courts,  to  consider  and  decide 
whether  the  repudiating  amendment  of  1860  was 
binding  on  the  legislature.  If  the  tribunal  should 
hold  in  the  negative,  then  the  old  bonds  were  to 
be  redeemed  by  new  ones  at  fifty  per  cent,  of  the 
amount  nominally  due.  Not  one  of  the  judges  of 
the  Supreme  Court  was  willing  to  serve,  and  the 
tribunal  was  tardily  made  up  of  five  district  judges 
designated  by  the  governor.  The  tribunal  met  and 
organized,  and  nothing  more.  An  order  from  the 
Supreme  Court  required  it  to  show  cause  w'hy  a 
writ  of  prohibition  should  not  issue,  on  the  ground 
that  the  legislature  had  not  the  risht  to  establish 
such  a  tribunal.  Tlie  attorney-general  at  the  same 
time  protested  against  its  competency,  and  had 
leave  to  protest  further  that  the  act  was  repugnant 


CLEARING   UP  331 

to  the  constitutional  amendment  of  18G0,  which 
forbade  payment  of  the  bonds  unless  after  an 
affirmative  vote  of  the  electors.  This  pleadinfj 
brought  forward  as  the  principal  issue  the  validity 
of  that  amendment.  The  contentions  were  exhaus- 
tively argued  in  the  Supreme  Court  by  able  coun- 
sel. The  decision  of  the  court  was  that  the  repudi- 
ating amendment  of  18G0  was  obnoxious  to  that 
provision  of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States 
forbidding  states  from  passing  any  law  impairing 
the  obligations  of  contracts.  The  writ  of  prohibi- 
tion issued  and  the  tribunal  dissolved.  There  was 
no  appeal,  and  the  Minnesota  logislatui'e  was  free 
to  dispose  of  the  bond  matter  without  a  refer- 
endum. Governor  Pillsbury  called  that  body  to 
meet  on  October  11.  The  bondholders  were  ready 
and  anxious  to  accept  fifty  cents  on  the  dollar.  A 
bill  to  issue  new  10-30  four  and  one  half  per  cent 
"  Minnesota  state  railroad  adjustment  bonds,"  to 
a  sufficient  amount,  was  passed  after  some  conten- 
tion as  to  details.  A  companion  bill  devoting  the 
proceeds  of  the  500,000  acres  of  internal  im])rove- 
ment  land  was  passed,  and  under  constitutional 
requirement  submitted  to  the  electors  in  November, 
1884.  The  vote  stood :  Yes,  31,011  ;  no,  13,589. 
The  presidential  vote  of  the  state  in  1880  was  150,- 
484.  This  vote,  therefore,  did  not  indicate  so  much 
a  change  of  sentiment  among  the  people  as  a  will- 
ingness to  have  the  old  bond  controversy  quieted. 
The  state's  power  to  borrow  at  reasonable  interest 


332  MINNESOTA 

had  never  been  affected.  Good  judges  were  of  opin- 
ion that  the  bondholders  fared  very  well  and  could 
afford  the  liberal  expenditures  made  to  secure  the 
legislation.  The  amount  of  new  bonds  issued  was 
$4,253,000,  of  which  Mr.  S.  Chamberlain  received 
11,992,053.70.  Governor  Pillsbury  closed  his  third 
term  by  signing  them,  a  duty  he  performed  with 
great  satisfaction.  With  this  he  retired  from  office, 
except  that  he  served  on  the  board  of  regents  of 
the  university  till  his  death  in  1902,  the  legislature 
having  by  special  act  created  him  an  additional 
regent  during  his  good  pleasure.  He  had  been  on 
that  board  since  1863. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

FAIR   WEATHER 

Whether  Governor  Pillsbury  could  have  been 
nominated  for  a  fourth  term  may  be  questioned, 
but  when  he  publicly  declined  a  fortnight  before 
the  Republican  convention,  it  was  evident  that 
among  the  aspirants  to  the  succession  the  favorite 
was  the  gallant  colonel  of  the  Fifth  Minnesota, 
General  Lucius  F.  Hubbard.  The  nomination  was 
his  on  the  first  ballot.  He  brought  to  the  office  a 
ripe  experience  in  legislation  and  public  affairs  and 
a  worthy  ambition  to  promote  the  public  welfare. 
He  was  easily  accorded  a  reelection  in  1882,  and, 
by  reason  of  a  change  made  in  the  official  year 
of  the  state,  remained  in  office  a  fifth  year.  It  was 
a  period  of  marked  prosperity,  not  greatly  dimin- 
ished by  the  commercial  depression  of  1883-84. 
The  population  of  the  state  rose  from  780,773  in 
1880  to  1,117,798  in  1885,  an  increase  of  forty- 
three  per  cent.  The  urban  communities  had  an 
excessive  increase  of  nearly  eighty  per  cent.  ;  Min- 
neapolis increased  from  46,887  to  129,200.  Twelve 
hundred  and  sixty-nine  miles  of  railroad  were 
added. 

Governor    Hubbard's   interest  in  organizations 


334  MINNESOTA 

and  institutions  for  promoting  the  public  health, 
improving  the  administration  of  the  penal  and 
charitable  institutions,  and  the  relief  of  superan- 
nuated soldiers  was  deep  and  continuous.  With 
his  hearty  approval  the  legislature  of  1883  enlarged 
the  powers  of  the  state  board  of  health,  which  had 
been  in  existence  for  ten  years  with  powers  and 
resources  much  too  limited.  The  executive  sec- 
retary of  the  board  for  nearly  the  first  quarter 
century  was  Dr.  Charles  N.  Hewitt,  whose  concep- 
tion of  the  state's  interest  and  duty  in  preserving 
the  health  and  increasing  the  physical  efficiency  of 
its  members  was  in  advance  of  his  time. 

It  had  been  the  policy  of  the  state  to  intrust  the 
care  of  her  penal  and  charitable  institutions  to 
separate  boards  of  citizens  serving  without  pay. 
To  secure  uniformity  of  administration  and  to 
enable  these  separate  bodies  to  profit  from  one 
another's  experiences,  a  state  board  of  charities 
and  corrections  was  authorized  by  law  in  1883.  To 
the  working  secretary  of  this  board  for  fourteen 
years,  Mr.  Henry  H.  Hart,  must  be  accorded  high 
praise  for  such  unstinted  and  intelligent  devotion 
to  his  duties  that  Minnesota's  institutions  of  chari- 
ties and  corrections  were  accorded  a  place  in  the 
front  rank.  The  state  lost  one  of  her  most  valu- 
able servants  by  his  deserved  promotion  beyond 
her  borders. 

Following  Governor  Hubbard's  earnest  advice, 
the  legislature  of    1885  established    "  The  State 


FAIR   WEATHER  335 

Public  School "  for  neglected  children,  which  under 
wise  tnauagement  by  different  officials  has  rescued 
from  lives  of  cx'ime  or  dependence  many  hundreds 
of  homeless  waifs.  The  reformatory  for  youthful 
delinquents  and  the  Soldiers'  Home,  commended 
by  him  to  the  legislature,  were  established  under 
the  succeeding  aduiinistration.  His  repeated  recom- 
mendation that  all  moneys  coming  into  county 
treasuries  should  be  "  covered  in "  through  the 
county  auditor's  office  fell  on  deaf  ears,  and  that 
needed  reform  in  our  public  accounting  still  re- 
mains to  be  wrought. 

The  sanction  of  the  granger  laws  by  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States  had  established 
the  principle  that  states  have  the  constitutional 
right  to  regulate  railroads;  but  Minnesota  had  not 
exercised  the  right  in  any  vigorous  or  comprehen- 
sive way,  partly  because  the  companies  had  of  their 
own  motion  moderated  charges,  improved  their  ad- 
ministration, and  shown  a  disposition  to  treat  the 
public  with  some  respect.  Still,  complaints  of  ex- 
tortion, unjust  discrimination,  and  insolence  were 
frequent,  and  by  many  believed  to  be  well  founded. 
Governor  Hubbard  in  his  first  two  messages  urged 
the  legislatures  to  take  np  these  complaints  and 
endeavor  to  frame  a  comprehensive  statute  which 
should  secure  to  the  companies  their  just  riglits  and 
immunities,  and  at  the  same  time  protect  the 
people  in  theirs.  The  result  was  the  railroad  law  of 
1885,  chapter  188  of  the  session  laws  of  that  year. 


336  MINNESOTA 

This  act,  judiciously  drawn,  met  the  purpose  of  its 
framers  so  fully  that  amendment  has  been  neces- 
sary only  in  points  of  detail.  The  historian  at  some 
far-off  day  will  marvel  that  in  the  closing  years  of 
the  nineteenth  century  it  was  necessary  to  compel 
common  carriers  by  law  not  merely  to  serve  the 
public  at  just  and  equal  charges  published  in  ad- 
vance, but  to  provide  common  decencies  and  accom- 
modations in  the  way  of  platforms,  waiting-rooms, 
fire-extinguishers,  and  toilet-rooms. 

Another  measure  successfully  pressed  upon  the 
legislature  by  Governor  Hubbard  was  that  of  public 
state  grain  inspection.  The  precarious  and  con- 
flicting grades  fixed  by  individual  and  associated 
buyers  were  the  source  of  incessant  dissatisfaction 
and  complaint.  Chapter  144  of  the  General  Laws 
of  Minnesota,  1885,  established  that  system  of 
inspection  and  grading  since  known  and  approved 
on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  A  warehouse  re- 
ceipt for  a  certain  quantity  of  grain  of  a  certain 
Minnesota  grade  became  a  definite  asset.  Because 
grain  inspection  necessarily  involved  the  regulation 
and  control  of  elevators,  which  in  turn  were  closely 
related  to  railroads,  the  law  placed  the  control  of 
the  system  in  the  hands  of  the  Board  of  Railroad 
Commissioners.  The  title  of  the  board  was  changed 
to  Board  of  Railroad  and  Warehouse  Commis- 
sioners, and  its  powers  were  much  extended  and 
fortified. 

Annual  sessions  of  the  legislature  had   ceased 


FAIR  WEATHER  337 

with  that  of  1879,  but  elections  continued  to  be 
held  annually  till  1886,  from  which  year  all  United 
States,  state,  and  county  officers  have  been  elected 
in  the  even-numbered  years.  All  state  and  county 
terms  of  office  begin  on  January  1 ;  the  fiscal  year 
begins  August  1. 

Governor  Hubbard  called  to  the  important  office 
of  state  superintendent  of  public  instruction  David 
L.  Kiehle,  who,  like  his  predecessor,  had  received 
a  clerical  education  and  had  had  slight  experience 
in  school  work,  but  like  that  predecessor  was  able 
to  throw  himself  unreservedly  into  the  public 
school  cause.  During  the  seven  terms  (1881-93) 
he  remained  in  office  he  labored  with  great  fidelity 
and  success  to  improve  the  schools  of  all  grades. 
Institutes  and  summer  training  schools  were  pro- 
moted and  a  state  tax  of  one  mill  was  established  to 
increase  the  efficiency  of  the  common  schools.  By 
an  act  of  1885  school  attendance  was  made  com- 
pulsory for  twelve  weeks  in  each  year. 

In  September,  1884,  Cyrus  Northrop,  resigning 
his  professorship  in  Yale  College,  assumed  the 
presidency  of  the  state  university,  bringing  to  the 
office  large  knowledge,  a  ripe  experience  in  educa- 
tion and  public  afi^airs,  and  a  remarkable  gift  for 
gaining  effective  support  for  reasonable  measures. 
The  president  of  the  university  and  the  state  super- 
intendent of  schools  being  the  two  working  mem- 
bers of  the  high  school  board,  such  effective  operation 
was  given  to   the  "act  for  the  encouragement  of 


338  MINNESOTA 

higher  education  "  that  high  schools  in  large  num- 
bers heartily  took  up  the  desired  duty  and  presently 
began  feeding  the  university  with  students  fitted 
for  college  work.  The  university  was  thus  enabled 
in  1890  to  drop  the  last  of  its  preparatory  classes. 

Whatever  may  have  been  whispered  in  political 
circles,  it  was  general  public  expectation  that  when 
the  legislature  of  1883  should  come  to  the  election 
of  a  United  States  senator  it  would  do  nothing 
else  than  reelect  William  Windom.  He  had  re- 
signed from  the  Senate  in  1881  to  accept  a  seat  in 
Garfield's  cabinet,  but  had  been  reappointed  by 
the  governor  after  the  death  of  that  President. 
Mr.  Windom  felt  so  confident  of  his  reelection  that 
he  remained  at  his  post  of  duty  in  Washington  and 
did  not  come  to  St.  Paul  until  after  the  discovery 
by  his  friends  of  an  indifPerence,  not  to  say  an 
opposition,  needing  his  personal  attention.  The 
Republican  caucus  gave  him  a  unanimous  nomi- 
nation, but  the  absence  of  fifty  members  was 
ominous.  The  election  went  to  the  joint  con- 
vention of  the  two  houses.  After  sixteen  days  of 
balloting  the  choice  went  to  another.  The  causes 
of  this  defeat  of  the  best  man  of  Minnesota  for  the 
place  were  various.  An  old  political  quarrel  in  the 
first  congressional  district  was  a  cause  of  no  lit- 
tle disaffection ;  that  Mr.  Windom  had  built  a 
costly  house  in  Washington,  impliedly  asserting 
a  permanent  hold  on   the   senatorship,  furnished 


FAIR  WEATHER  339 

excuse  to  some ;  the  fact  that  he  had  been  unwisely 
praised  by  admiring  supporters  alienated  others. 
Intemperate  censure  of  opponents  by  a  leading 
newspaper  favoring  his  reelection  doubtless  com- 
pacted the  opposition.  Mr.  Windom  was  himself 
convinced  that  a  liberal  use  of  money  was  the 
effective  means  of  his  defeat. 

President  Harrison  called  Mr.  Windom  into  his 
cabinet  as  secretary  of  the  treasury,  for  whose 
duties  his  industry,  his  large  training  in  public 
affairs  and  matured  judgment  fitted  him.  I  lis  life 
was  suddenly  ended  on  January  29,  1890,  by  a 
paralytic  stroke  coming  at  the  close  of  a  speech  at 
a  banquet  in  New  York  city. 

On  the  evening  of  November  7, 1884,  citizens  of 
St.  Paul  gave  a  banquet  in  honor  of  General  Henry 
Hastings  Sibley,  first  state  governor,  celebrating 
his  arrival  at  Mendota  fifty  years  before.  For  the 
long  series  of  honors  and  compliments  bestowed  on 
this  first  citizen  of  Minnesota  the  reader  must  re- 
sort to  his  biographer.  In  1888  the  trustees  of 
Princeton  College  conferred  upon  him  the  honorary 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws,  in  consideration  of  "high 
personal  character,  scholarly  attainments,  and  emi- 
nent public  service,  civil,  military,  and  educational." 
General  Sibley's  death  did  not  occur  until  Febru- 
ary 18,  1891. 


CHAPTER  XIX 


A   CHRONICLE   OF   RECENT   EVENTS 

With  the  close  of  Governor  Hubbard's  adminis- 
tration, now  twenty-one  years  ago,  the  connected 
story  of  Minnesota  may  properly  end.  Only  after 
some  lapse  of  years  may  the  historian  presume  to 
view  affairs  with  discrimination,  selecting  those  of 
permanent  significance  from  the  trifling  and  tran- 
sitory. He  may,  however,  as  a  mere  annalist,  record 
such  facts  and  events  as  seem  to  have  more  than 
momentary  importance. 

The  governors  of  the  state  have  been  :  — 


Name. 

Party. 

Dates. 

Andrew  R.  McGill   .     . 
William  R.  Merriam     . 
Knute  NelBon .... 
David  M.  Clough      .     . 
John  Lind             .     .     . 
Samuel  R.  Van  Sant     . 
John  A.  Johnson      .     . 

Republican. 

Republican. 

Republican. 

Republican. 

Democrat. 

Republican. 

Democrat. 

January  5, 1887,  to  January  9, 1889. 
January  9,  1889,  to  January  4, 1893. 
January  4, 1893,  to  January  31 ,  1895. 
January  31, 1895,  to  January  2, 1899. 
January  2,  1899,  to  January?,  1901. 
January  7, 1901,  to  January  4,  1905. 
January  4,  1905,  to 

Mr.  Nelson  was  elected  to  the  United  States 
Senate  in  the  first  month  of  his  second  term  as 
governor.  Mr.  Clough,  lieutenant-governor,  suc- 
ceeded him,  and  was  elected  governor  for  a  second 


A  CHRONICLE  OF  RECENT  EVENTS     ^41 

terra.  Mr.  Lind  was  the  first  Democratic  governor 
after  Governor  Sibley,  the  first  state  executive. 
Both  he  and  Mr.  Johnson  were  elected  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  Minnesota  was  and  is  overwhelmingly 
Republican. 

Four  United  States  senators  only  have  been 
elected,  all  Republican.  Cushman  K.  Davis,  who 
in  1875  had  balked  Mr.  Ramsey  of  a  third  term, 
but  failed  to  secure  his  owti  election,  went  into  re- 
tirement, devoting  himself  to  his  law  practice,  to 
literature,  and  to  preparation  for  a  public  career 
to  come  in  good  time.  He  so  commended  himself  to 
Republicans  by  his  professional  ability,  his  fine  pub- 
lic addresses,  and  the  moderation  of  his  demands  for 
advancement,  that  when  the  time  came,  in  January, 
1887,  to  fill  the  vacancy  of  Senator  McMilhm, 
about  to  occur, ,  there  was  but  one  opposing  vote 
against  him  in  the  Republican  caucus.  Ignatius 
Donnelly,  who  had  temporarily  returned  to  the  fold, 
made  a  rousing  speech  of  approval.  The  election 
followed  as  of  course.  In  1893  Mr.  Davis  was 
elected  for  a  second  term,  but  by  a  close  vote.  In 
1899  he  was  accorded  a  third  term  with  almost  no 
opposition.  lie  had  made  a  brilliant  record  as 
senator  and  chairman  of  the  committee  on  foreign 
relations.  He  served  as  one  of  the  commissioners 
to  negotiate  the  treaty  of  peace  at  the  close  of  the 
Spanish  war  of  1898.  Mr.  Davis  died  in  office 
suddenly,  November  27,  1900. 

William  D.  Wasliburn,  who  had  retired  from  the 


342  MINNESOTA 

House  of  Representatives,  did  not  reach  his  ex- 
pected promotion  to  the  Senate  till  1889.  At  the 
close  of  his  term  he  gave  way  to  Governor  Nelson, 
who  has  since  been  twice  reelected.  Moses  E.  Clapp 
was  elected  in  1901  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the 
death  of  Senator  Davis. 

The  Australian  ballot  system,  established  in  1889 
for  cities  of  10,000  inhabitants  or  more,  extended 
to  operate  throughout  the  state  in  1891,  was  re- 
codified in  1893. 

The  legislature  of  1899  passed  a  law  providing 
for  "  primary  elections  "  to  replace  nominations  by 
party  caucuses  and  conventions.  The  act  is  not  op- 
erative in  towns,  villages,  and  small  cities,  and  does 
not  apply  to  state  officers.  The  primary  election 
takes  place  on  the  first  of  the  registration  days  for 
the  usual  election,  and  is  conducted  by  the  same 
judges  and  clerks.  Any  person  eligible  to  an  office 
may,  by  payment  of  a  prescribed  fee  and  making  a 
qualifying  oath,  have  his  name  printed  on  the  pri- 
mary ballot  of  his  party.  Every  qualified  voter  may, 
after  registration,  receive  and  mark  the  ballot  of  the 
party  he  "  generally  supported  at  the  last  election 
and  intends  to  support  at  the  next  ensuing."  The 
general  election  laws  apply,  and  the  usual  penalties 
attach  to  misconduct.  The  experiment  is  still  too 
brief  to  warrant  a  final  judgment.  It  has  certainly 
weakened  the  machine,  and  stimulated  aspiration  to 
office  in  persons  whose  qualifications  are  more  ap- 
parent to  themselves  than  to  others.  That  candi- 


A  CHRONICLE   OF  RECENT  EVENTS      343 

dates  for  judicial  positions  are  obliged  to  make  a 
personal  canvass  is  perhaps  the  feature  most  to  be 
regretted. 

When  the  capitol  building  was  burned  in  1881 
the  legislature,  upon  Governor  Pillsbury's  recom- 
mendation, immediately  appropriated  875,000  for 
rebuilding,  on  the  assumption  that  the  walls  were 
sufficiently  sound.  This  assumption  was  found  mis- 
taken, and  additional  sums  were  voted  till  more 
than  four  times  the  original  amount  was  expended. 
But  ten  years  had  not  passed  before  it  was  appar- 
ent that  ampler  accommodations  were  imperative 
for  multiplying  functionaries  and  expanding  busi- 
ness. The  legislature  of  1893  accordingly  author- 
ized the  appointment  of  a  commission  to  plan,  build, 
and  furnish  a  new  and  appropriate  structure.  The 
local  influence  was  sufficiently  effective  to  keep  the 
location  in  the  heart  of  St.  Paul,  on  an  elevated 
site  of  small  area,  rather  than  permit  erection  on 
a  larger  area  in  the  "midway  district,"  still  in  that 
city,  but  near  Minneapolis.  The  corner-stone  was 
laid  on  July  27, 1898,  by  Alexander  Ramsey.  Sen- 
ator C.  K.  Davis  delivered  the  principal  address. 
The  legislature  of  1905  was  the  first  to  convene 
in  the  completed  building.  The  traditional  pLan  of 
a  central  body  flanked  by  wings  and  surmounted 
by  a  dome  was  followed,  with  the  variation  that 
the  house  of  representatives  is  housed  in  a  rear  ex- 
tension, leaving  the  wings  to  aocommodatc  the 
senate  and  the  supreme  court.  The  exterior  is  of 


344  MINNESOTA 

Georgia  marble.  The  interior  corridors  are  faced 
with  polished  Minnesota  magnesian  limestones  of 
charming  tints,  relieved  by  panels  of  foreign  mar- 
bles. The  interior  of  the  dome,  the  senate  chamber, 
the  supreme  court  room,  and  the  governor's  office 
are  splendidly  decorated  with  mural  paintings  by 
leading  American  artists.  Over  the  fa(;ade  of  the 
central  structure  rests  a  quadriga  in  bronze,  typify- 
ing the  progress  of  Minnesota.  The  total  cost  was 
$4,428,539.72  ;  and  in  this  age  the  honorable  coni- 
missioners  need  not  resent  as  superfluous  the  record 
that  there  was  absolutely  no  "■  graft "  in  the  whole 
construction  and  furnishing.  The  architect,  Mr. 
Cass  Gilbert,  a  native  of  Minnesota,  will  be  fortu- 
nate if  he  shall  in  his  future  career  surpass  the 
taste,  skill,  and  nobility  of  conception  displayed  in 
this  work.  It  is  a  splendid  object  lesson  in  civic 
architecture,  not  only  to  Minnesota  but  to  neigh- 
boring commonwealths. 

The  legislature  of  1905  adopted  a  new  codifica- 
tion of  the  general  laws  of  the  state,  which  had 
been  prepared  by  a  commission  of  which  Daniel 
Fish,  Esq.,  was  the  working  member.  It  has  been 
published  in  a  single  volume  of  1380  pages. 

The  penal  and  charitable  institutions  of  Minne- 
sota under  the  supervision  of  the  board  of  charities 
and  corrections  had  attained  to  the  first  rank  for 
economy  of  administration  and  beneficial  results. 
Two  neighboring  states  made  the  experiment  of 
disbanding  the  separate  boards  of  trustees  or  man- 


A  CHRONICLE  OF  RECENT  EVENTS      St5 

agers  and  placing  all  such  institutions  in  the  hands 
of  a  single  "  board  of  control."  To  be  in  the  fashion 
the  legislature  of  Minnesota  in  1901  created  a 
board  of  control  of  state  institutions,  and  went  so 
far  as  to  include  the  university  and  normal  schools 
in  all  their  financial  concerns.  These,  however, 
were  in  a  later  year  exempted  from  the  operation 
of  the  act  and  restored  to  their  independence.  It 
may  be  conceded  that  in  point  of  finance  the  single 
boai'd  has  justified  the  change,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  its  members  have  been  appointed  on  political 
considerations.  Persuaded  that  there  was  danger 
of  neglect  in  a  board  so  composed  and  fully  occu- 
pied with  the  business  management  of  tlie  institu- 
tions, the  legislature  of  1907  provided  for  a  board 
of  visitors  to  exercise  a  humanitarian  supervision 
over  the  patients  and  inmates. 

The  people  of  ^linnesota  have  not  yet  desired  a 
revision  of  their  constitution,  content  to  live  under 
the  original  statute  of  1857  and  to  amend  it  casu- 
ally from  time  to  time.  In  the  period  now  in  view 
no  fewer  than  seventeen  amendments  have  been 
adopted,  some  of  them  of  far-reaching  importance. 
They  may  be  enumerated  :  — 

1.  1883,  an  amendment  fixing  January  1  as 
the  beginning  of  the  official  year  of  the  state, 
on  which  day  all  officers  chosen  at  the  pre- 
vious election  enter  upon  their  duties. 

2.  1886,  an  amendment  authorizing  loans  upon 
interest  from  the  permanent  school  fund  of 


346  MINNESOTA 

the  state  to  counties  and  school  districts,  to 
be  used  in  the  erection  of  county  and  school 
buildings.  This  provision,  wisely  guarded, 
has  proved  advantageous. 

3.  Of  the  same  year,  an  amendment  forbidding 
the  enactment  of  any  special  law  in  all  cases 
where  a  general  law  can  be  made  applicable, 
and  specifically  inhibiting  special  legislation 
in  fifteen  cases.  Its  operation  has  been  bene- 
ficial, but  there  have  been  instances  where 
special  legislation  has  been  had  under  mere 
color  of  general. 

4.  1888,  an  amendment  limiting  the  sessions  of 
the  legislature  to  ninety  legislative  days,  and 
forbidding  the  introduction  of  any  new  bill 
during  the  last  twenty  days,  unless  upon 
recommendation  of  the  governor  in  a  special 
message. 

6.  Of  the  same  year,  an  amendment  declaring 
any  combination  to  monopolize  markets  for 
food  products,  or  to  interfere  with  the  free- 
dom of  such  markets,  to  be  a  criminal  con- 
spiracy, punishable  as  the  legislature  may 
provide.  No  action  has  yet  been  had. 

6.  1890,  an  amendment  authorizing  the  legisla- 
ture, to  provide  that  an  agreement  of  ten 
jurors  in  a  civil  action  shall  be  a  sufficient 
v^erdict.  The  legislature  has  not  yet  acted. 

7.  1896,  an  amendment  creating  a  board  of 
pardons,  consisting  of  the  governor,  the  at- 


A  CHRONICLE  OF  RECENT  EVENTS  Ml 

torney-general,  and  the  chief  justice,  with 
powers  to  be  defined  and  regulated  by  law. 
The  procedure  of  the  board  has  been  pre- 
scribed by  statute.  Its  administration  has 
been  judicious,  and  the  governor  has  been 
relieved  of  a  duty  exceedingly  painful  and 
difficult  for  any  individual  to  discharge. 

8.  1896,  an  amendment  to  the  elective  fran- 
chise article,  taking  from  declarants  for 
naturalization  the  right  to  vote. 

9.  In  the  year  1906  a  so-called  "  wide  open  " 
tax  amendment,  repealing  a  large  part  of 
Article  IX  as  formerly  standing.  It  declares 
that  "  the  power  of  taxation  shall  never 
be  surrendered,  suspended,  nor  contracted 
away."  After  exemptions  of  the  ordinary 
kind,  it  leaves  the  legislature  free  to  levy 
taxes  according  to  its  discretion,  requiring 
only  that  they  shall  be  uniform  upon  the 
same  class  of  subjects. 

10.  1898,  an  amendment  granting  suffrage  to 
women  of  full  age  in  school  and  library 
measures  absolutely,  and  not  merely  allowing 
the  legislature  to  extend  the  privilege. 

11.  In  the  same  year,  an  amendment  requiring 
a  majority  of  all  the  votes  cast  at  the  elec- 
tion to  ratify  an  amendment  to  the  constitu- 
tion. Up  to  that  year  a  majority  of  the 
electors  voting  on  the  particular  amendment 
was  sufiicient  to  ratify. 


348  MINNESOTA 

12.  In  the  same  year,  an  amendment  creating  a 
state  highway  commission  and  a  road  and 
bridge  fund  and  authorizing  a  special  tax 
therefor. 

13.  Also  in  1898,  an  amendment  authorizing 
cities  and  villages  to  adopt  charters  for  their 
own  government,  to  be  drafted  by  a  board 
of  freeholders  appointed  by  district  judges ; 
commonly  called  a  "  home-rule  "  amendment. 
An  affirmative  vote  of  four  sevenths  of  the 
electors  is  necessary  to  adopt.  In  Minneap- 
olis on  four  occasions,  large  majorities  have 
favored  "  home  rule,"  but  the  required  four- 
sevenths  vote  has  not  been  obtained. 

14.  1904,  an  amendment  authorizing  the  invest- 
ment of  the  permanent  school  and  university 
funds  in  the  bonds  of  counties,  towns,  cities, 
villages,  and  school  districts  under  prescribed 
conditions. 

What  place  the  tornado,  the  hailstorm,  the  lo- 
cust, and  such  like  destroyers  have  in  the  mundane 
economy ;  whether  they  are  providential  disposi- 
tions for  the  punishment  of  particular  communi- 
ties, or  freaks  of  sheer  diabolism,  or  resultants  of 
powers  imparted  to  nature  playing  under  determin- 
ing conditions,  is  a  question  which  must  be  left  to 
casuists,  reverend  and  other.  Minnesota  can  claim 
no  exemption  from  such  visitations.  On  April  14, 
188G,  a  furious  tornado  struck  the  city  of  St.  Cloud 


A  CHRONICLE  OF  RECENT  EVENTS   M9 

and  its  suburb,  Sauk  Rapids,  cutting  a  swath  of 
desolation  and  destroying  some  seventy  persons. 
In  1891,  on  June  15,  a  series  of  tornadoes  trav- 
ersed the  counties  of  Martin,  Faribault,  Freeborn, 
Mower,  and  Fillmore,  on  a  line  nearly  parallel  with 
the  Southern  Minnesota  division  of  the  Milwaukee 
and  St.  Paul  Railroad.  Many  farm  buildings  were 
wrecked  and  about  fifty  people  killed.  In  previous 
years  disastrous  tornadoes  had  wrought  havoc  in 
New  Ulm  and  Rochester. 

In  the  fall  of  1886  there  was  a  descent  of  what 
were  supposed  to  be  ordinary  grasshoppers  in  Otter 
Tail  County.  When  in  the  following  spring  "  hop- 
pers "  were  appearing  dangerously  numerous.  Gov- 
ernor McGill  sent  out  the  state  entomologist.  Dr. 
Otto  Lugger  of  the  university  agricultural  college, 
to  investigate.  lie  saw  at  once  that  the  genuine 
Rocky  Mountain  locust  was  to  be  dealt  with,  and 
proceeded  to  organize  the  farmers  for  warfare  on 
them.  So  effective  was  the  campaign  that  thirty- 
five  thousand  bushels  of  the  insects  were  caught 
and  destroyed,  and  half  the  crops  on  about  one 
hundred  square  miles  saved. 

On  September  1,  1894,  a  fire  broke  out  in  the 
cut-over  pine  woods  near  Hinckley,  in  Pine  County. 
A  high  wind  prevailing,  it  spread  and  raged  for 
many  days.  Eight  villages,  including  Hinckley  and 
Sandstone,  and  scores  of  farmsteads  were  com- 
pletely destroyed.  Not  less  than  three  hundred  and 
fifty  square  miles  were  devastated.  Four  hundred 


360  MINNESOTA 

and  eighteen  persons  lost  their  lives,  and  more  than 
two  thousand  were  left  homeless.  The  property 
loss  was  not  less  than  a  million  dollars.  Governor 
Nelson  appointed  a  relief  committee  of  citizens, 
with  Charles  A.  Pillsbury  at  its  head.  The  esti- 
mated amount  of  relief  furnished  through  this  and 
the  local  committees  was  -1185,000.  In  the  same 
year  the  chinch  bug  did  much  damage  to  growing 
crops  in  several  southwestern  counties. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  with  Sj^ain  in  April, 
1898,  Minnesota  was  first  of  the  states  to  respond 
to  the  call  of  the  President  for  volunteers,  as  she  had 
been  in  the  Civil  War.  Before  the  close  of  the  month 
three  regiments,  — Twelfth,  Thirteenth,  and  Four- 
teenth, —  mostly  recruited  from  the  national  guard, 
were  assembled  at  St.  Paul.  They  were  mustered  into 
the  United  States  service  May  7  and  8.  The  Thir- 
teenth Regiment,  commanded  by  Colonel  Charles 
McCormick  Reeve,  was  dispatched  to  the  Philip- 
pine Islands  and  participated  in  the  capture  of 
Manila,  August  13,  1898.  It  performed  provost 
guard  duty  in  that  city  till  the  spring  of  1899,  and 
formed  part  of  Lawton's  expedition  to  the  interior. 
The  regiment  was  mustered  out  in  San  Francisco 
in  September,  but  was  transported  home  in  trains 
furnished  by  Minnesota  cities,  and  on  arrival  in 
Minneapolis,  October  12,  1899,  was  reviewed  by 
President  McKinley. 

The  Twelfth  and  Fourteenth  regiments  were 
sent  to  the  grand  rendezvous  at  Camp  Thomas, 


A  CHRONICLE   OF  RECENT  EVENTS      3ol 

Chlckamaiiga  Park,  Georgia,  detained  thereabout 
through  the  summer,  sent  home  late  in  September, 
fui'loughed  for  thirty  days,  and  mustered  out  No- 
vember 18. 

The  Fifteenth,  recruited  from  the  state  at  large, 
was  mustered  in  July  18,  detained  at  Fort  Snell- 
ing  till  September  15,  and  then  sent  to  Camp 
Meade,  Pennsylvania.  A  month  later  it  was  or- 
dered to  Camp  Mackenzie,  Georgia,  where  it  re- 
mained till  mustered  out  March  27,  1899. 

The  Thirteenth  alone  suffered  losses  in  action. 
Its  roll  of  honor  shows  officers  and  men  killed,  5  ; 
died  of  disease  or  accident,  37 ;  wounded,  14. 

A  detachment  of  the  Fourteenth  Minnesota  saw 
some  service,  happily  bloodless,  in  its  own  state. 
The  Pillager  band  of  Chippeway  Indians  on  Leech 
Lake  had  long  been  complaining  of  injustice  done 
them  in  the  matter  of  the  pine  on  their  reservation, 
which  they  had  been  ])ersuadetl  to  sell.  The  prices 
paid  them  were  ridiculously  low,  and  the  charges 
for  appraisal  and  inspection  as  ridiculously  high. 
Parties  holding  permits  to  cut  "dead  and  down 
timber,"  cut  live  trees  standing  convenient.  Ke- 
peated  protests  td  the  government  had  brought  no 
redress.  The  deputy  United  States  marshal,  Shee- 
han  (he  of  Fort  Kidgely),  undertook  to  arrest  a 
chief  who  had  given  show  of  misbehavior.  He  re- 
sisted arrest,  and  a  number  of  his  braves  rallied 
and  stood  off  the  marslial's  posse.  A  company  of 
sixty  United  States  infantry  was  sent  from  Fort 


352  MINNESOTA 

SnelUng,  which  was  later  reinforced  by  two  hun- 
dred men  commanded  by  Major  M.  C.  Wilkinson 
and  supervised  by  General  Bacon.  On  October  5 
the  troops  were  landed  on  the  peninsula  known  as 
Sugar  Point,  and  a  sharp  little  conflict  followed 
which  cost  the  lives  of  Major  Wilkinson,  Sergeant 
William  Butler,  and  two  privates.  Two  companies 
of  the  Fourteenth  were  recalled  from  furlough  and 
distributed  to  stations  of  the  railroad  running 
north  of  Leech  Lake.  After  repeated  councils,  at 
which  the  United  States  commissioner  of  Indian 
affairs  was  present,  eight  chiefs  surrendered  to  the 
marshal,  and  the  war  ended.  Governor  Clough,  in 
his  message  to  the  legislature  of  1899,  charged  the 
United  States  government  with  a  "  series  of  acts 
and  neglects  most  wrongful  to  the  Indians  "  and 
with  a  "  blunder  more  criminal  in  its  results  than 
those  neglects  and  acts,"  the  performance  being  the 
"  climax  of  a  long  course  of  folly  and  wrong." 

All  branches  of  the  public  school  system  have 
been  enlarged  and  improved.  The  common  school 
endowment  from  the  lands  granted  by  Congress 
has  increased  to  more  than  $11,000,000.  Sales  of 
pine  timber  ($3,500,000)  and  other  items  have 
swelled  the  fund  to  more  than  116,000,000.  The 
state  still  holds  millions  of  acres  unsold.  The  ex- 
cellent work  of  the  normal  schools,  supplemented 
by  that  of  the  high  schools,  has  greatly  added  to 
the  number  of   qualified  teachers.  Opposition  to 


A  CHRONICLE  OF  RECENT  EVENTS      353 

the  normal  schools,  now  five  in  number,  has  long 
since  ceased. 

Beginning  with  the  year  1889,  and  the  first 
graduations  from  the  professional  schools,  the  de- 
velopment of  the  university  has  surpassed  all  ex- 
pectations. The  total  attendance  in  that  year  was 
791,  the  number  of  degrees  conferred,  52.  In  1900 
those  numbers  were  increased  to  2866  and  449 
respectively.  In  1907  they  were  3955  and  507. 
It  has  been  difficult  to  keep  the  buildings  and 
equipment  abreast  of  the  needs  of  these  develop- 
ments, especially  as  the  original  "  main  "  build- 
ing has  been  once  extensively  damaged  and  later 
destroyed  by  fire.  Despite  inadequate  compensa- 
tion, the  professorships  have  been  filled  with  able 
and  earnest  men  and  women,  but  no  small  number 
of  teachers  whom  the  state  and  the  institution 
could  ill  afford  to  lose  have  been  drawn  away. 
The  student  body  have  secured  high  places  in  inter- 
collegiate athletics,  oratorical  and  forensic  contests, 
adding  much  to  the  repute  of  the  university,  already 
holding  an  honorable  rank  for  scholarship  and  cul- 
ture. While  the  state  university  is  the  largest  and 
best-equipped  in  the  state,  it  possesses  no  mono- 
poly of  the  superior  education.  There  are  at  least 
fifteen  other  degree-conferring  institutions.  More 
than  half  of  the  number  are  Lutheran  colleges  or 
seminaries,  in  which  cxcelhMit  instruction  is  given 
in  the  classical  languages,  history,  and  philosophy. 
The  Koman  Catholic  colleges,  also  strong  in  the 


354  MINNESOTA 

humanities,  are  St.  John's  University  and  the  Col- 
lege of  St.  Thomas.  The  leading  Protestant  insti- 
tutions which  have  passed  out  of  the  experimental 
stage  are  Carleton  College  at  Northfield,and  Mac- 
alester  College  and  Hamline  University, both  within 
the  limits  of  St.  Paul.  All  are  open  to  women, 
maintain  excellent  preparatory  departments,  and 
do  well  the  work  they  undertake  to  do. 

The  notable  development  of  the  university  Col- 
lege of  Agriculture  at  St.  Anthony  Park  cannot 
here  have  adequate  room,  but  mention  must  be 
made  of  one  of  its  auxiliaries,  the  so-called  "School 
of  Agriculture."  From  the  year  1868,  when  the 
agricultui'al  college  lands  were  merged  with  those 
of  the  university,  the  regents  and  faculty  of  the 
university  had  exerted  themselves  in  all  good  faith 
to  gather  students  into  the  agricultural  college 
which  they  had  promptly  organized  on  paper.  The 
farmers'  boys  flocked  to  the  university,  but  not  to 
learn  agriculture  to  practice  it.  Only  occasionally 
could  any  be  induced  to  enroll  in  that  college.  Up 
to  1888  not  fifty  had  so  done,  and  but  one  had 
completed  the  course  and  been  graduated.  The  first 
president  had  declared  that  there  was  no  proper 
work  for  an  agricultural  "  college  "  to  do,  and  that 
agricultural  schools  of  secondary  rank  must  be  or- 
ganized. Professor  Edward  A.  Porter  of  the  univer- 
sity department  of  agriculture,  after  some  years  of 
experiment  and  reflection,  became  convinced  that 
such  a  school  should  be  undertaken,  and  that,  not 


A  CHRONICLE  OF  RECENT  EVENTS     355 

on  the  university  campus,  but  on  the  experimental 
farm  some  two  miles  away.  He  brought  the  board 
of  regents  to  his  opinion  through  the  influence  of 
an  "advisory  board  of  farmers"  which  he  induced 
them  to  appoint.  State  Superintendent  D.  L. 
Kiehle,  a  member  of  the  board  of  regents  ex-offlclo, 
worked  out  the  pedagogical  details,  and  early  in 
1888  submitted  the  plan  of  a  "  school  "  of  agricul- 
ture to  receive  students  of  fifteen  and  over,  with 
a  common-school  training,  for  a  term  extending 
from  November  to  April.  His  idea  was  to  make 
the  instruction  practical  in  the  branches  immedi- 
ately related  to  agriculture,  cultivating  powers  of 
observation  and  judgment,  and  arousing  interest 
in  and  taste  for  country  life.  The  school  was  opened 
October  18, 1888,  with  forty-seven  students.  Young 
women  were  admitted  in  1897,  and  a  second-year 
course  has  been  added.  The  school  expenses  proper 
do  not  exceed  eighty-five  dollars  a  year.  The  en- 
rollment of  students  for  1908  was  581,  and  the 
whole  number  since  1888  is  4608.  A  notable  fact 
is  that  this  "  school "  has  stimulated  and  fed  the 
"college"  of  agriculture,  69  students  having  been 
graduated  since  the  opening  of  the  school.  The 
franiors  of  the  "Morrill  bill  "  of  1857-62,  granting 
public  lands  for  the  endowment  and  support  of  col- 
leges of  agriculture  and  mechanic  arts,  could  have 
had  no  expectation  of  any  such  use  of  the  grant, 
and  doubtless  would  have  provided  ngainst  devot- 
ing  it  to   elementary  education.    The    industrial 


356  MINNESOTA 

education  had  yet  to  be  invented  for  this  country. 
But  this  school  of  agriculture  is  far  better  for  the 
practical  farmer  than  any  college  could  be. 

One  department  of  the  school  of  agriculture  of 
the  university  has  had  no  small  part  in  working  a 
great  change  in  Minnesota  agriculture.  While  the 
state  as  a  whole  will  long  retain  a  leading  place 
as  a  wheat  producer,  all  southern  Minnesota  has 
abandoned  that  cereal  as  a  principal  crop.  Supplied 
from  the  department  of  dairy  husbandry  of  the 
school  of  agriculture  with  expert  operators  of  cream- 
eries and  cheese  factories,  the  farmers  of  many 
counties  have  turned  to  dairying.  Minnesota  butter, 
thanks  to  the  science  and  practice  taught  in  tbe 
school,  commands  a  premium  in  the  market,  and 
its  annual  output  has  run  up  to  near  100,000,000 
pounds.  Minnesota  has  become  the  "  Bread  and 
Butter  State."  The  total  dairy  product  of  Minnesota 
in  1S07  may  be  safely  valued  at  -$40,000,000. 
Along  with  dairying  has  naturally  grown  up  an 
extensive  animal  husbandry,  profitably  converting 
into  marketable  forms  the  forage  crops  of  great 
areas. 

At  the  experiment  station  conducted  in  the  agri- 
cultural department  of  the  university  new  varie- 
ties of  grains,  in  particular  wheat,  have  been  de- 
veloped by  careful  breeding  and  selection,  which 
promise  much  to  Minnesota  farmers. 

Adjoining  the  agricultural  establishment  of  the 
university  is  the  domain  of  two  hundred  acres  and 


A   CHRONICLE   OF   RECENT   EVENTS      357 

more  on  which  the  Minnesota  State  Agricultural 
Society,  in  a  vast  range  of  buildings  and  inclosures, 
holds  its  annual  fair  in  September.  Given  this  per- 
manent location  in  1885,  the  society  has  developed 
a  great  industrial  museum  of  high  educational 
value. 

For  many  years  after  the  white  man  built  his 
sawmills  on  Minnesota  rivers  it  was  believed  that 
the  pine  forests  north  and  east  of  the  Sioux-Chip- 
peway  intertribal  boundary  of  1825  could  never 
be  exhausted.  A  generation  ago  that  belief  was 
given  up,  but  exhaustion  was  thought  to  be  so 
far  away  that  people  then  living  need  not  worry 
about  it.  There  being  no  public  control  over  pri- 
vate lumbering,  the  reckless,  indiscriminate,  ruin- 
ous methods  of  the  pioneer  operators  were  con- 
tinued. Young  growing  trees  went  down  along 
with  those  old  and  ripe  for  the  axe.  Within  a  few 
years  it  has  become  apparent  to  all  who  concern 
themselves,  that  the  days  of  Minnesota  lumbering 
in  the  old  piratical  fashion  are  numbered.  Had  a 
reasonable  forest  policy  been  established  fifty  years 
ago,  permitting  only  the  annual  cutting  of  ripe 
trees  and  leaving  the  young  to  grow,  a  harvest  of 
lumber  might  have  been  reaped  in  perpetuity. 
There  are  millions  of  acres  of  land  in  tlie  state 
which  are  fit  only  for  forest  growth  and  will  some 
day  be  so  devoted.  An  act  of  the  legislature  of 
1899  created  a  state  forestry  board,  which  has  al- 


358  MINNESOTA 

ready  outlined  a  policy  and  begun  the  immense 
work  of  re-afforesting  despoiled  areas.  Another  act, 
that  of  1905,  provides  for  a  forest  commissioner,  and 
to  that  office  has  been  appointed  General  C.  C. 
Andrews,  who  for  many  years  has  been  the  apostle 
of  forest  preservation  and  replanting  in  Minnesota. 

In  1878  the  state  geologist,  Professor  N.  H.  Win- 
chell,  announced  the  existence  of  iron  ore  fit  for 
steel  production  about  Vermilion  Lake  in  St.  Louis 
County  ;  but  neither  the  university  nor  the  state 
authorities  took  sufficient  interest  to  cause  a  proper 
examination  of  the  region  to  be  made.  George 
C.  Stone  of  Dnluth  conducted  explorations  whose 
revelations  led  to  the  formation  of  the  Minnesota 
Iron  Company  and  the  building  of  the  Duluth  and 
Iron  Range  Railroad  in  1884.  In  that  year  62,122 
tons  of  ore  were  shipped  from  the  mine  opened  at 
Tower.  Four  years  later  the  railroad  was  extended 
to  Ely,  and  54,612  tons  were  carried  from  the 
Chandler  mine.  The  pro'duct  of  the  Vermilion 
range  increased  with  astonishing  rapidity.  It  was 
near  a  half  million  tons  in  1888,  and  double  that 
figure  four  j'^ears  later. 

Marvelous  as  had  been  the  development  of  the 
Vei'milion  range,  it  was  eclipsed  by  that  of  another 
of  which  geologists  had  detected  but  faint  indica- 
tions. In  November  1890,  an  exploi-ing  party  of 
the  Merritt  Brothers  of  Duluth  found  iron  ore  at  a 
point  west  of  Virginia,  near  which  the  Great  Moun- 
tain iron  mine  was  later  opened.    A  year  after  one 


A   CHRONICLE   OF   RECENT   EVENTS      359 

of  their  explorers  found  ore  turned  up  by  the  roots 
of  a  fallen  tree.  A  shaft  sunk  on  the  spot  struck 
the  ore  body  of  the  Biwabik  mine.  From  these  be- 
ginnings date  the  developments  of  the  Mesabi  iron 
range,  lying  some  twenty  miles  south  of  and  par- 
allel with  the  Vermilion  range,  but  extending  much 
farther  to  the  west.  In  1892,  4245  tons  of  ore  were 
shipped  over  the  railroads  which  had  been  built  out 
from  Duluth  to  the  Mesabi  mines.  Three  years  later 
the  shipments  were  nearly  three  millions  of  gross 
tons  ;  in  1900  they  had  swelled  to  nearly  eight  mil- 
lions, and  in  1907  they  touched  twenty-seven  and  a 
half  millions.  The  shipment  in  the  year  last  named 
from  a  certain  single  mine  was  2,900,493  tons.  The 
Mesabi  ores  are  of  the  "  soft "  variety,  lie  near 
the  surface,  and  are  in  large  part  mined  by  means 
of  steam  shovels  dumping  into  cars  ;  these,  in  the 
shipping  season,  are  at  once  dispatched  to  the  lake 
ports,  where  the  ore  is  transferred  to  vessels  which 
carry  it  below.  The  output  of  the  Vermilion  range 
has  remained  under  two  millions  a  year,  except  in  a 
single  case.  The  ores  of  both  ranjres  are  of  the  va- 
riety  known  as  hematite,  with  great  differences  of 
physical  structure.  Mnch  of  them  yield  seventy  per 
cent,  of  pure  metal.  Ore  containing  less  than  fifty- 
five  per  cent,  of  iron  is  not  now  considered  market- 
able, and  there  are  enormous  masses  of  such  low 
grade  ore  left  untouched  by  the  mine  operators. 
At  least  1,500,000,000  tons  of  ore  marketable 
under  present  conditions  have  been  located  and 


3G0  MINNESOTA 

measured.  The  state  tax  commission  in  1907  raised 
the  vahiation  of  2116  ore  properties,  containing 
1,192,509,757  tons,  from  l|64,500,000  in  190G  to 
1189,500,000. 

An  act  of  Congress  of  1873  expressly  excepted 
Minnesota  from  the  operation  of  the  mining  laws 
of  the  United  States,  leaving  all  her  mineral  lands 
open  to  settlement  or  purchase  in  legal  subdivisions, 
like  agricultural  or  timbered  lands,  thus  virtually 
giving  to  lucky  speculators  these  priceless  ore 
deposits.  Up  to  1889  the  state  pursued  the  same 
policy,  selling  her  school  and  swamp  lands  contain- 
ing ore  at  the  annual  sales  and  getting  the  usual 
prices  for  arable  lands.  In  1889  the  legislature 
provided  for  the  leasing  of  ore  properties  for  fifty 
years  at  a  royalty  of  twenty-five  cents  per  ton.  At 
this  rate,  less  than  one  third  that  obtained  by  pri- 
vate mine  owners,  the  school  fund  will  be  splendidly 
enriched.  The  receipts  from  royalties  and  contracts 
in  1907  were  1273,433. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1907  the  railroads  of 
Minnesota  had  increased  their  mileage  to  8023 
miles,  having  almost  doubled  it  in  twenty  years. 
The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  in  the 
Blake  case,  decided  in  1876,  had  affirmed  the  right 
of  the  state  of  Minnesota  to  regulate  raih'oad  fares 
and  rates,  according  to  the  pleasure  of  the  legisla- 
ture. In  1890  came  a  decision  from  the  same  tri- 
bunal in  another  Minnesota  case  to  the  effect  that 


A  CHRONICLE   OF  RECENT  EVENTS      3G1 

any  regulation,  whether  by  statute  or  through  a 
commission,  must  be  subject  to  judicial  review.  The 
legislature  could  not  deprive  a  railroad  company  of 
its  property  —  rents,  issues,  and  profits  included  — 
without  due  process  of  law,  much  less  could  a  com- 
mission. This  decision  with  others  of  the  period 
materially  moderated  the  effect  of  the  "granger 
cases."  Another  litigation  arising  in  the  state  was 
of  national  importance.  A  small  clique  of  capital- 
ists who  had  bought  control  of  the  Great  Northern 
and  Northern  Pacific  railway  systems,  each  of  eight 
thousand  miles  and  more,  desiring  to  ojierate  them 
as  one  property  or  interest,  formed  a  third  corpo- 
ration called  the  Northern  Securities  Company.  It 
was  chartei-ed  in  New  Jersey,  November  13,  1900, 
with  an  authorized  capital  stock  of  '$400,000,000. 
When  duly  organized  this  company  proceeded  to 
exchano:e  its  own  stock  for  the  stocks  of  the  Great 
Northern  and  Northern  Pacific,  and  absorbed  more 
than  three  fourths  of  them.  This  consolidation,  ef- 
fecting a  monoi)oly  of  all  traffic  between  the  Missis- 
sippi and  the  Pacific  coast  for  five  degrees  of  lati- 
tude, caused  the  greatest  alarm.  Governor  Van 
Sant  used  every  means  at  his  disposal  to  prevent 
its  consummation.  A  suit,  brought  by  the  state  in 
one  of  her  district  courts  alleging  violation  of  her 
statute  forbidding  the  consolidation  of  parallel  and 
competing  roads,  I'emoved  to  the  Circuit  Court  of 
the  United  States,  was  there  decided  against  the 
state  on  the  jrround  that  the  Northern  Securities 


362  MINNESOTA 

was  not  a  railroad  company,  but  a  mere  "holding 
company."  An  appeal  was  taken  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  but  that  court  de- 
clined to  review  the  action  below  because  the  case 
had  been  improperly  removed  from  the  Minnesota 
court.  Without  waiting  for  the  result  of  this  suit, 
the  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States  sued  in 
the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States  for  Minne- 
sota, charging  infraction  of  the  "  Sherman  anti-trust 
law  "  of  1890.  That  court,  after  elaborate  hearings, 
found  the  Northern  Securities  Company  to  be  an 
unlawful  combination  in  restraint  of  trade,  and  or- 
dered its  dissolution.  As  was  expected,  an  appeal 
was  taken  to  the  Supreme  Court,  where  in  March, 
1904,  the  decision  below  was  affirmed,  the  chief 
justice  and  three  associates  dissenting.  Under  judi- 
cial direction  the  Northern  Securities  Comi^any 
proceeded  to  return  the  stocks  taken  in  exchange, 
and  at  length  went  into  dissolution.  The  same  men 
own  the  two  roads  still. 

Early  in  the  present  year  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States  considered  that  the  Circuit  Court 
for  the  District  of  Minnesota  had  the  right  to 
punish  the  attorney-general  of  Minnesota  for  at- 
tempting, in  disobedience  of  its  process,  to  enforce 
a  state  law  regulating  railroad  rates,  held  to  be 
obnoxious  to  the  national  constitution. 

Minnesota  enjoys  a  great  advantage  in  point  of 
transportation  to  both  oceans  in  the  competition  of 
Canadian  roads,  with  branches  penetrating  to  her 


A   CHRONICLE   OF   RECENT   EVENTS       3G3 

principal  cities.  The  water  route  eastward  from 
Duluth  has  moderated  costs  of  shipping  out  her 
staple  products  —  grain,  ore,  and  lumber  —  and 
given  her  favorable  rates  on  returning  merchandise. 

The  new  states  of  the  Northwest  have  departed  far 
from  the  conservative  doctrine  that  governments 
exist  merely  for  the  protection  of  persons  and  pro- 
perty. Two  examples  of  this  departure  in  Minne- 
sota may  be  mentioned.  In  1899  the  legislature 
created  the  Minnesota  Public  Library  Commission. 
Its  duties  are  to  maintain  (1)  a  bureau  of  informa- 
tion on  library  matters,  (2)  a  circulating  library, 
and  (3)  a  clearing-house  for  periodicals.  From  the 
circulating  library,  "traveling  libraries"  of  twen- 
ty-five or  fifty  volumes  are  sent  to  small  towns 
and  rural  communities  on  payment  of  a  small  fee. 
Home  study  and  juvenile  libraries  are  also  sent 
out,  and  small  collections  in  five  different  foreign 
languages.  No  provision  for  the  general  culture 
could  be  more  popular. 

Equally  acceptable  have  been  the  ministrations 
of  the  Minnesota  State  Art  Society,  organized  under 
an  act  of  1903.  This  body  manages  periodical  art 
exhibitions,  offers  and  awards  prizes  for  excellence 
in  artistic  work,  and  will  ultimately  form  a  perma- 
nent collection.  The  exhibitions,  held  in  St.  Cloud, 
ISIankato,  and  Winona  have  been  of  great  educa- 
tional value. 

Minnesota  lies  between  the  latitudes  of  43  degrees, 
80  minutes,  and  49  degrees  north,  and  the  longitudes 


364  MINNESOTA 

of  89  degrees,  29  minutes,  and  97  degrees,  15  min- 
utes west.  Her  extreme  dimensions  are  therefore 
about  380  miles  from  north  to  south  and  350  miles 
from  east  to  west.  Her  situation  is  not  far  from 
the  geographical  centre  of  the  North  xVmerican  con- 
tinent, and  the  drainage  from  the  Itascan  plateau 
falls  into  Hudson's  Bay,  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence, 
and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  lowest  land  is  at  the 
head  of  Lake  Superior,  whose  surface  is  602  feet 
above  sea-level.  The  highest  land  a  granite  peak 
of  the  Misquah  hills  in  Cook  County,  is  2230  feet 
above  sea-level.  The  annual  mean  temperature  is 
44  degrees  Fahrenheit ;  that  of  the  summer  months, 
70  degrees.  The  climate  has  proved  favorable  to 
health  and  industry . 

By  the  state  census  of  1905  the  total  population 
of  Minnesota  was  1,979,912,  including  10,920  In- 
dians, 171  Chinese,  and  50  Japanese.  The  native 
born  were  1,424,333.  Of  the  537,041  foreign-born 
persons,  262.  417  came  from  the  Scandinavian  king- 
doms, 119,868  from  Germany,  84,022  from  English- 
speaking  countries.  The  average  yearly  increase 
for  the  decade  closing  in  1905  was  40,529 ;  for  the 
five-year  period,  22,852.  The  urban  population  was 
1,048,922,  equal  to  53  per  cent,  of  the  total.  In 
the  same  decade  the  urban  population  had  in- 
creased 38  per  cent.,  while  the  rural  population 
had  augmented  but  14.5  per  cent.  The  most  notable 
examples  of  urban  development  are  in  the  "twin 
cities"  of  Miuneaj^olis  and  St.  Paul,  their  aggregate 


A   CHRONICLE   OF   RECENT  EVENTS      365 

population  in  1905  being  458,997.  If  the  suburban 
dwellers  within  easy  "trolley"  ride  be  added,  that 
number  rises  to  more  than  half  a  million.  Although 
the  two  municipalities  have  long  been  coterminous, 
they  may  remain  politically  separate  for  many 
years,  if  not  indefinitely. 

POPULATION   OF  MINNESOTA   FOR  TWELVE  CENSUS   YEARS. 


1850 
1857 
18(30 
1865 
1870 
1875 
1880 
1885 
18'J0 
1895 
I'JOO 
1905 


Federal  Censcs. 


6,077 

172,123 

439,706 

780,773 

1,301,826 

1,751,394 


State  Census. 


150,037 

250,099 

597,407 

1,117,798 

1,574,619 

1,979,912 


INDEX 


AccAULT  leads  expedition  to  up- 
per Mississippi,  18. 

Acton  murders,  197. 

Agricultural  college,  established 
at  Glencoe  (1858),  160. 

Agricultural  school  at  Lake  Cal- 
houn, 67. 

Aldrich,  Cyrus,  M.  C,  and  candi- 
date for  U.  S.  senator,  248;  cham- 
pions homestead  act,  253. 

Allen,  Lieut.  James,  commands 
Schoolcraft's  escort,  75. 

AUouez,  Pere,  at  La  I'ointe  (1665), 
14;  at  convocation  of  1671,  15. 

American  Fur  Company,  organ- 
ized, 54  ;  policy  of,  54;  chief  sta- 
tions, 55;  control  of  Indians,  58; 
factors  of,  59. 

Anderson,  Capt.  Joseph,  in  battle 
of  Birch  Coulie,  213. 

Andrews,  C.  C,  votes  against 
surrender  of  Third  Minnesota, 
183;  in  command  at  Fitzhugh's 
Woods,  243 ;  accepts  nomination 
for  M.C.,  264;  state  forest  com- 
missioner, 358. 

Astor,  John  Jacob,  organizes  the 
American  Fur  Co.,  52. 

"Atlantis,"  written  by  Ignatius 
Donnelly,  318. 

Attorney-General  of  Minnesota 
enjoined  by  U.  S.  courts  from 
enforcing  state  law,  3G2. 

Auguolle,associateof  Accaultand 
Hennepin,  18. 

Austin,  Horace,  nominated,  265  ; 
inaugurated  governor,  265;  an- 
tecedents, 276  ;  proposes  consti- 
tutional amendments,  268;  ve- 
toes bill  to  squander  internal 
improvement  lands,  268 ;  re- 
commends regtilation  of  rail- 
roads, 279. 

Australian  ballot  system,  342. 


Bancroft,  George,  mentioned,  121. 

Banking,  see  liiiilroads. 

Banks  issue  notes  on  deposit  of 

special  state  railroad  bonds,  166. 
Battle  of  Big  Mound,  235;  Birch 

Coulie,  213;  Dead  Buffalo  Lake, 

235  ;    Kaposia,    65  ;    Skakopee, 

157;  Rum  River,  63;  Stillwater, 

63;  Wood  Lake,  218. 
Becker,  George  L.,  mentioned,  154. 
Bee,    Capt.    Alexander,   pursues 

Inkpaduta,  146. 
Beltrami,  Constantino  Giacomo, 

aspires   to   discover    the    true 

source  of  the   Mississippi,  73 ; 

starts  out  with  Major  Long,  73; 

at  "Lake  Julia,"  74;  publishes 

his  "  Discovery,"  74;  publishes 

his    "Pilgrimage,"  74;    charts 

Lac  la  Biche,  75. 
Biennial  sessions  of   legislature, 

336;  elections,  337. 
Bierbauer,  Capt.  William,  comes 

to  relief  of  New  Ulm,  208. 
Big  Mound,  battle  of,  235. 
Birch  Coulie,  battle  of,  213;  dis- 
pute as  to  command,  215. 
Bishop,  Gen.  J.  W.,  at  Mission 

Ridge,  243. 
Blake  case,  the,  283;  modified  by 

later  decision,  361. 
Blizzard,  the,  of  1873,  289. 
Board  of  Pardons;  constitutional 

amendment,  346. 
Bonanza  farming,  273. 
Boom  of  1857,  141. 
Boucher,  R(5n6,  sec  La  Perrifere. 
Boundaries,  86,  98,  135. 
Boutwell,  Rev.  W. T.,  missionary, 

M;  helps  Schoolcraft  with  his 

Latin,  76. 
Brackctt's  Cavalry  Battalion,  in 

Tennossco,   isd'j;  with  .Sully  at 

Killdeer  Mountain,  187. 


368 


INDEX 


r.rnss  kettle  campaign,  the,  316. 

IJritish  control  lasts  till  1815,  5"J. 

Dritish  hold  the  Northwest,  38. 

Jiritish  proposal  in  1814,  52. 

lirower,  J.  V.,  discovers  the  '•  ul- 
timate bowl  "  of  Ulississippi,  78. 

Brown,  Joseph  R.,  drummer  boy, 
arrives  with  troops  (1819),  84; 
lays  out  town  (1840),  81;  J.  P. 
of  Crawford  County,  Wis.,  84; 
in  Wisconsin  legislature,  85;  fa- 
thers Minnesota  Northwestern 
Railroad  bill  in  legislature  of 
1854,  122  ;  member  of  consti- 
tutional convention,  138;  ap- 
pointed Sioux  agent,  168;  plan 
to  civilize  the  Sioux,  168;  super- 
seded as  Sioux  agent,  169;  com- 
mands detachment  at  Birch 
Coulie,  213;  commands  scouts 
in  1863,  234. 

Browning,  O.  H.,  permits  further 
issues  of  Chippeway  half-breed 
scrip,  114. 

Brul6,  Etienne,  report  of  Lake 
Superior,  5. 

Burger,  Capt.  Emil,  mentioned, 
224. 

Burt,  Rev.  D.,  superintendent  of 
public  instruction,  320. 

Butler,  Sergeant  William,  shot  In 
Pillager  outbreak,  352. 

Cadillac  builds  fort  at  Detroit 
(1701),  29. 

"Caesar's  Column,"  by  Ignatius 
Donnelly,  319. 

Camp  Coldwater,  56. 

Cantonment  at  Mendota  (1819), 
55. 

Capital  of  Minnesota,  located  in 
St.  Paul,  91 ;  attempt  to  remove 
(1857),  132;  attempt  to  remove, 
(1869),  265. 

Capitol,  old,  burned,  325;  rebuild- 
ing of,  343. 

Capitol,  new,  building  of,  343;  ac- 
count of.  344. 

Carleton  College,  mentioned,  354. 

Cartier,  Jacques,  two  voyages,  3. 

Carver,  Jonathan,  expedition,  33; 
travels,  35;  claim,  36. 


Cass,  Gov.  Lewis,  exploring  ex- 
pedition 71;  induces  Sioux  and 
Chippeways  to  make  a  treaty  at 
Fort  Snelling,  72. 

Catlin,  John,  Secretary  of  Wis- 
consin Territory,  calls  an  elec- 
tion in  the  rump,  87. 

Cavanaugh,  James  M.,  seated  as 
representative  from  Minnesota, 
154. 

Chamberlain,  Selah,  holder  of 
special  state  railroad  bonds, 
32G;  sues  railroad  company 
(1873),  328;  offers  to  take  half  of 
face  value  of  bonds  (1887),  .329. 

Chambers,  Gov.  John,  commis- 
sioner for  treaty  with  Sioux 
(1849),  93,  111. 

Champlain,  Samuel,  two  explor- 
ing voyages,  3;  founds  Quebec, 
3;  diseovers  Lake  Champlain,  4; 
defeated  by  Iroquois,  5;  emis- 
saries of,  5;  "Father  of  New 
France,"  6. 

Charlevoix,  on  the  Mississippi 
(1720),  26. 

Chase,  Charles  L..  territorial  sec- 
retary and  delegate  to  constitu- 
tional convention,  138;  acting 
governor,  155. 

Chatfield,  Andrew  G.,  appointed 
territorial  justice  (1853),  108. 

Chippeway  half-breed  scrip,  story 
of,  112. 

Chippeways,  immigration  of,  44; 
drive  Sioux  south  and  west,  44; 
characteristics,  45;  still  on  re- 
serves, 112;  disquiet  of,  1S62,  224 

Chippeway  treaties  (1826,  1851, 
1854,  1855,  1863),  11. 

Christian,  George  H.,  pioneer 
in  patent  milling,  274. 

Church,  first  organized,  67. 

Civil  War,  First,  Second,  Third, 
Fourth,  and  Fifth  Infantry  regi- 
ments, 178;  Sixth,  Seventh, 
Eighth,  Ninth,  and  Tenth  regi- 
ments, raised,  ISS ;  batteries, 
sharpshooters,  and  cavalry  bat- 
talion raised,  186;  Eleventh  In- 
fantry regiment  raised,  247; 
First   Heavy   Artillery   raised, 


INDEX 


369 


247;   whole  number  of  Minne- 
sota volunteers,  247. 
Clapp,   Moses    E.,  elected  U.  S. 
senator,  342. 

Claim  Association  of  Hennepin 
Co.,  130. 

Clark,  Gen.  George  Rogers,  men- 
tioned, 37. 

Clough,  David  M.,  governor  (1895- 
99),  340;  his  judgment  on  treat- 
ment of  the  Pillagers,  3.'52. 

Code  of  1851,  91. 

Cody,  Capt.  John  S.,  killed  by 
Sioux,  237. 

Colbert,  recommends  a  colonial 
system,  13. 

College  of  Agriculture  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  iMinnesota,  slow  de- 
velopment, 354. 

College  of  St.  Thomas,  mentioned, 
354. 

Colville,  Col.  'William,  commands 
First  Minnesota  in  Gettysburg 
charge,  241. 

Compulsory  school  attendance, 
337. 

Conquest  of  Canada  by  British,  30. 

Constitution  of  state,  framing  of, 
139;  adoi)te(l,  141;  ratified,  148. 

Constitutional  amendments :  au- 
thorizing state  orticers  to  act 
before  admission  to  Union,  15<j; 
five  million  loan,  158;  expung- 
ing amendment  of  1858,  173;  re- 
quiring referendum  of  special 
railroad  bonds,  173;  fixing  offi- 
cial year,  345;  loan  of  school 
fund,  345;  forbidding  special 
legislation,  346;  ninety-day  ses- 
sions, 346;  forbidding  mono- 
polies, 346;  ten  jurors  to  render 
verdict,  346;  creating  board  of 
pardons, 346;  declarants  not  to 
vote,  347;  "wide  open"  tax 
power,  347;  woman  suffrage  in 
school  and  library  matters,  347; 
majority  of  whole  vote  to  ratify 
amendment,  347;  creating  high- 
way commission,  348;  home  rule 
charters,  :548;  investment  of 
school  fund,  348. 

Constitutional   convention,  elec- 


tion for,  la^ ;  delegates,  135 ;  re- 
sult of  election,  137;  the  split, 
137;  efforts  to  unite  the  two 
bodies,  139;  conferees  appointed 
139;  report  of  conferees,  140. 

Convocation  of  1041,  15;  18'25,  01. 

County  government,  change  in, 
175. 

Crooks,  William,  appointed  colo- 
nel of  Sixth  Minnesota,  189. 

Cullen,  Major,  Sioux  agent,  men- 
tioned, 148. 

Dairy  industry,  development  of, 
356. 

Dakota  Indians,  see  Sioux  Indians. 

Daumont,  see  St.  Lusson,  15. 

Davis,  Cushman  K.,  antecedents 
of,  294;  secures  governorship, 
295;  balks  Senator  Ramsey  of  re- 
election, 296 ;  fails  to  secure 
nomination  for  U.  S.  senator, 
297;  address  at  celebration  of 
two  hundredth  anniversary  of 
discovery  of  fallsof  St.  Anthony, 
325;  recommends  arbitration  of 
railroad  bonds,  329 ;  elected  U.  S. 
senator  (1887),  341;  reelected  U. 
S.  senator,  341;  Spanish  treaty 
commissioner  (1898),  341  ;  ad- 
dress at  laying  comer-stone  of 
new  capitol,  343  ;  death,  341. 

Davis,  Jefferson,  mentioned,  123. 

Dead  Buff^alo  Lake,  battle  of,  235. 

Death  penalty,  changes  in,  314. 

Declarants  for  naturalization  de- 
prived of  suffrage,  347. 

Delano,  Columbus,  investigates 
Chippeway  half-breed  scrip,  115. 

Detroit  occujiied  by  British,  32. 

Dodd,  Capt.,  killed  in  battle  of 
New  Ulm,  209. 

Dodge,  Henry,  mentioned,  87. 

Donnelly,  Ignatius,  antecedents, 
170  ;  elected  lieutenant-govern- 
or, 170  ;  reelected  lieutenant- 
governor,  177;  elected  to  Con- 
gress (1802).  248;  aspires  to  U.  S. 
senatorship,  262;  attack  on  Re- 
prcst-ntative  E.  B.  Washbunie, 
262;  fails  to  receive  nomination 
for  U.  S. senator,  264;  withdraws 


370 


INDEX 


from  senatorial  contest,  297; 
nominee  lor  Congress  (1878), 
31G;  contests  W.  i).  Washburn's 
election,  317;  turns  to  author- 
ship, 318  ;  champions  free  school- 
books,  321. 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  expedites 
Minnesota  organic  act,  89. 

Douglass,  Capt. ,  engineer  of  Cass's 
expedition,  71. 

Draft,  the,  in  Minnesota,  246. 

Duluth,  on  Lake  Superior,  16;  on 
Pigeon  River,  17;  onMilleLacs, 
(1679),  17;  at  Point  Douglass 
(1680),  19;  meets  Accault's  party, 
19. 

Dunnell.  Mark  H.,  superintendent 
of  public  instruction,  256. 

Dustin  murders,  238. 

East  and  west  line,  139. 

Edgerton,  Gen.  A.  J.,  appointed 
state  railroad  commissioner,  280. 

Eleventh  Minnesota  Infantry, 
raised,  247. 

Emmegabowh,  missionary,  men- 
tioned, 225. 

Enabling  act:  opposition  to,  134; 
passage  of,  134 ;  land  grants  of, 
134. 

Execution  of  Sioux  convicts,  231. 

Expedition  to  upper  Mississippi 
(1680),  18. 

Farley,  J.  P.,  sues  associates,  311. 

Fifteenth  Minnesota  Volunteers, 
in  Spanish  War,  351. 

Fifth  Minnesota  Infantry,  raised, 
185;  leaves  three  companies  in 
Indian  forts,  185;  at  Corinth, 
185 ;  at  Nashville,  244. 

Fillmore,  Ex-President,  men- 
tioned, 121. 

First  Battery  of  Minnesota  Light 
Artillery  at  Shiloh,  187. 

First  claim  at  St.  Anthony's  Falls, 
81. 

First  Minnesota  Heavy  Artillery, 
247. 

First  Minnesota  Infantry,  called, 
178;  mustered,  179;  enlists  for 
three  years,  179 ;  leaves  for  the 


South,  180;  at  first  P.ull  Run, 
180;  at  Antietam,  180;  charge  at 
Gettysburg,  240. 

First  Minnesota  Sharpshooters, 
mustered,  186;  merged  into  Sec- 
ond regiment  of  U.  S.  Sharp- 
shooters, 186. 

First  white  child  in  Minnesota, 
56. 

Fiscal  year,  337. 

Fish,  Daniel,  reviser  of  laws,  344. 

Five  million  loan,  story  of,  156; 
expunged,  173  ;  investigation  of, 
325;  efforts  for  settlement,  325; 
redeemed,  331. 

Flandrau,  Charles  Eugene,  Sioux 
agent,  causes  pursuit  of  Inkpa- 
duta,  146  ;  summoned  by  the 
people  of  XewUIm, 207;  marches 
to  their  relief,  208;  placed  in 
command,  208,  209  ;  appointed 
colonel,  213. 

Flour  mill,  first,  in  Minnesota,  56. 

Flour,  patent,  274. 

Ford,  John  W.,  champions  normal 
schools.  257. 

Forsyth,  Major,  pays  lower  Sioux 
for  the  land  bought  by  Pike,  57. 

Fort  Abercrombie,  location,  190; 
attacked,  224. 

Fort  Beauharnois,  described,  26. 

Fort  Ridgely,  location,  190;  de- 
scription, 205;  first  attack  on, 
206;  second  attack  on,  206;  re- 
lieved, 212. 

Fort  Ripley,  garrisoned,  225. 

Fort  St.  Anthony,  changed  to  Fort 
Snelling,  56. 

Fort  St.  Antoine,  built  by  Perrof 
(1686),  22. 

Fort  Snelling,  occupied  (1822),  56. 

Fort  Snelling  reservation,  delim- 
ited, 128;  reduced  (1852),  129; 
occupied  by  squatters,  129  ;  part 
east  of  Mississippi  sold,  130 ;  pre- 
emption right  granted  by  Con- 
gress (1855),  131;  clandestine 
sale,  132. 

Foster,  Dr.  Thomas,  account  of 
Indian  tribes  of  Minnesota,  91. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  his  Canada 
pamphlet,  31. 


INDEX 


371 


French,  abandon  western  trade 
(1C9'J),  25;  reestablish  it  (1714), 
25  ;  fortify  frontier,  30  ;  build 
Fort  Duquesne,30;  lose  Quebec 
(1759),  30  ;  lose  Fort  Duquesne 
(1759),  30;  lose  Montreal  (1760), 
30;  cede  to  Spain  territory  west 
of  the  Mississippi  (17G2).  31 ;  cede 
to  England  territory  east  of  the 
Mississippi  (17G3),  31. 

French  dominion,  proclaimed  at 
Sault,  15;  proclaimed  on  upper 
Mississippi,  22;  proclaimed  at 
mouth  of  Mississippi  by  La  Salle, 
22. 

French,  early  discoveries,  2. 

Frontenac,  governor  (1672),  16  ; 
commissions  Duluth,  16;  dis- 
patches Joliet,  16;  death  (1689), 
24. 

Frontier  dangers,  1863,  237. 

Fourteenth  Minnesota  Volun- 
teers, in  Spanish  war,  350. 

Fourth  Minnesota  Infantry,  re- 
cruited, 184;  at  Corinth  and 
luka,  184  ;  at  Altoona,  244. 

Free  school-books.  321. 

Fur-trade,  organization  of,  7;  ex- 
pands in  seventeenth  century, 
7;  revived  under  English,  32; 
effect  on  Indians,  45;  effect  of 
act  of  1816,  54;  in  politics,  106. 
5ee  American  Fur  Company,  and 
Northwest  Company. 

Fur-traders,  two  unknown  (1656),  7. 

Galbraith,  Thomas  F.,  succeeds 
.J.  R.  lirown  as  Siou.x  agent,  169; 
recruits  volunteers,  197. 

Galtier,  Rev.  Lucius,  missionary 
at  Mendota  (1840),  83;  builds 
chapel  of  St.  Paul,  83. 

Gardiner,  Miss,  rescued  from  Ink- 
paduta,  147. 

Geological  survey,  303. 

Gilbert,  Cass,  architect  of  new 
cai^itol,  344. 

Goodrich,  .Varon,  first  territorial 
chief  justice,  90. 

Gorman,  Willis  A.,  antecedents, 
108;  api)(>inted  territorial  gov- 
ernor,   108;    recommends   con- 


Btruction  of  one  railroad;  122, 
approves  charter  of  Minnesota 
and  Northwestern  R.  R.  Co. 
(1854),  122 ;  vetoes  Minnesota 
and  Northwestern  Railroad  bill 
(1855),  126;  denounces  jugglery 
of  the  railroad  company,  I'.'O  ; 
proposes  formation  of  constitu- 
tion without  enabling  act,  133; 
calls  special  session  of  legisla- 
ture, 135;  resigns.  136;  appointed 
colonel  of  the  First  Minnesota, 
179. 

Conor,  de,  missionary,  26. 

Grain  elevators,  use  of,  273. 

Grand  convocationjof  1825,  61. 

Grant,  Capt.  H.  P.,  in  battle  of 
Birch  Coulie,  213. 

Grasshoppers,  see  Rocky  Moun- 
tain locust. 

"  Great  Cryptogram,  The,"  by  Ig- 
natius Donnelly,  319. 

Green,  Corporal,  makes  heroic  de- 
fense, 183. 

Griggs,  Lieut.-Col.,  votes  against 
surrender  of  Third  Minuebota, 
183. 

Groseilliers,  first  mentioned.  8. 

Groseilliers  and  Radisson.  voy- 
ages, 8  ;  first  French  in  Minne- 
sota, 11. 

Guinas,  missionary  at  Fort  Beau- 
barnois,  26. 

Hamline  University,  mentioned, 
3,'>4. 

Harlan,  James,  forbids  further  is- 
sues of  Chippeway  half-breed 
scrip,  114. 

Hart,  H.  H.,  secretary  of  state 
board  of  charities  and  correc- 
tions, 334. 

Hazlewood  republic,  169. 

Hendricks,  Capt.  Mark,  handles 
battery  at  \\ood  Lake,  219. 

Hennepin,  Father  Louis,  member 
of  expedition  to  upper  Missis- 
sippi, 18;  discovers  falls  of  St. 
Anthony,  19;  a  subordinate  to 
La  .Salle,  21 ;  his  "  Description  of 
Louisiana,"  21;  his  "New  Dis- 
covery," 21. 


372 


INDEX 


Hewitt,  Dr.  C.  N.,  secretary  of 
state  board  of  health,  334. 

High  Scliool  Board,  322;  effective- 
ness, 337. 

High  schools,  feed  university,  321. 

Hill,  J.  J.,  an  associate  lor  pur- 
chase of  the  St.  Paul  and  Pacific, 
30'J;  becomes  general  manager 
of  St.  Paul,  Minneapolis  and 
Manitoba  R.  R.  311. 

Hinckley  forest  lire  (1894).  349. 

Hoag,  Charles,  proposes  the  name 
Min-ne-ha-po-lis,  131. 

Holcouib,  William,  first  lieuten- 
ant-governor, KiO. 

Home  rule  for  cities;  constitu- 
tional amendment,  348. 

Homestead  act,  operation  of,  252. 

Hopperdozers,  described,  305. 

Hospital  for  insane  at  St.  Peter, 
fire  in  1880,  325. 

Hotchkiss,  William  A.,  captain  of 
Second  Light  Battery,  187. 

Hubbard,  Lucius  Fairchild:  in 
command  of  Fifth  Minnesota, 
185;  gallantry  at  Corinth,  185; 
■wounded  at  Nashville,  245;  bre- 
vetted  brigadier,  245;  declines 
nomination  for  member  of  Con- 
gress, 264;  member  of  special 
commission  on  special  state  rail- 
road bonds.  326;  elected  gov- 
ernor (1881),  333;  fosters  state 
institutions,  333;  advises  public 
school  for  neglected  and  de- 
pendent children,  and  reforma- 
tory for  youthful  convicts,  334; 
recommends  "  covering  in  "  of 
moneys  into  county  treasuries, 
335;  recommends  railroad  law 
(1885),  335. 

Huggins,  Alexander,  mentioned, 
66. 

Indian  forts,  location  and  object, 
190. 

Indian  treaties:  commissioners  to 
be  appointed  from  Indian  offi- 
cials, 94;  price  of,  101;  with 
Chippeways  (1837),  80;  with 
Sioux  (1837).  80;  abortive  with 
Sioux    (1849),    92;    with     Sioux 


(1851).  95;  with  Chippeways 
(1854,  etc.),  Ill ;  with  Sioux (1858). 
169. 

Indian  tribes  of  Minnesota,  ac- 
count of.  94. 

Indians,  how  affected  by  traders. 
45. 

Indians,  see  Chippeways,  Sioux, 
etc. 

Inkpaduta:  murders  by,  146:  res- 
cue of  captives,  146;  fruitless 
efforts  to  capture.  147;  effect  of 
failure  to  capture,  193. 

Interest,  rate  of  (1860),  176. 

Internal  improvement  lands,  de- 
voted to  redemption  of  bonds, 
331. 

Ireland,  Archbishop,  chaplain  of 
Fifth  Minnesota,  at  Corinth,  186; 
speaks  at  celebration  of  two  hun- 
dredth anniversary  of  discovery 
of  falls  of  St.  Anthony,  325. 

Iron  ore  of  Minnesota:  nature  of, 
359;  ranges,  discovery  and  loca- 
tion, 358;  marketable,  amount 
of,  359;  properties,  valuation  for 
taxation,  360;  land  of  state, — 
royalties.  360 ;  lands  excepted 
from  mineral  laws  of  United 
States,  360. 

Iroquois,  subjects  of  England,  29. 

Itasca,  Lake,  discovered,  76;  mak- 
ing of  the  word,  76. 

Jefferson  plans  expeditions  to 
west,  47. 

Jennison.Lieut.-Colonel, wounded 
at  Nashville,  245. 

Johnson,  John  A.,  governor  (1905), 
340. 

Joliet,  on  Lake  Superior  (1669),  14; 
at  convocation  (1671),  15;  dis- 
covers the  Mississippi  (1673),  16. 

Jones  commission,  116. 

Jones,  John,  sergeant,  in  charge 
of  artillery  at  Fort  Ridge ly.  205. 

Jogues,  at  Sault  Ste  Marie  (1641), 
9- 

Keating,  Prof  William  H.,  geolo- 
gist and  historian  of  Long's  ex- 
pedition, 7. 


INDEX 


373 


Kiehle,  David  L.,  state  stiperln- 
tendent  of  public  instruction 
(1881-1893),  337;  works  out  plan 
for  school  of  a{;riculture,  355. 

Kingsburj',  W.  W.,  not  recognized 
as  delegate  from  the  rump  of 
Minnesota,  154. 

Kittson,  N.  W.,  trades  at  Pem- 
bina, 112;  an  associate  for  pur- 
chase of  Saint  Paul  and  Pacific, 
309. 

Knox,  H.  M.,  first  public  exam- 
iner, 314;  his  administration 
commended,  314. 

La  Framboise,  Joseph,  rescues 
whites  at  upper  agency,  201. 

Lampson,  Nathan,  kills  Little 
Crow,  238. 

La  Perrifere,  Sieur  de,  builds  Fort 
Beauharnois  (1727),  26. 

La  Salle,  in  Canada  (1G63),  17;  au- 
thorized to  explore,  17;  at  Pe- 
oria. 111.  (1680),  18;  plans  expe- 
dition to  upper  Mississippi,  18; 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi 
(1682),  22. 

Lea,  Luke,  commissioner  for 
Sioux  treaties  of  1851,  W. 

Leavenworth,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Henry,  leads  troops  to  St.  Pe- 
ter'.s,  55;  appoints  otticers  of 
Crawford  County,  Mich.,  58. 

Legislative  sessions,  limited  by 
constitutional  amendment,  346. 

Legislative  steal  of  18,58,  165. 

Legislature,  first,  doubtful  status, 
150. 

Lester,  Henry  A.,  colonel  of  the 
Third  Minnesota,  182;  surren- 
ders, 182;  dismissed,  184. 

Le  Sueur,  Pierre,  on  I'ralrie  Is- 
land (1694),  23;  gets  leave  to  mine 
copper,  23;  builds  Fort  I'Huil- 
lier  (1700),  24;  his  copper  mine, 
24. 

Lincoln,  President,  examines  re- 
cord of  Indian  trials,  229;  writes 
out  order  for  execution  of  Sioux 
murderers,  2.30;  recommends  re- 
election of  M.  S.  Wilkinson  as 
U.  S.  senator,  251. 


Lind,  John,  governor  (1899-lDOO), 
340. 

Little  Crow:  apparently  peace- 
alile,  197;  character.  198;  as- 
sumes command  of  Sioux,  199< 
plans  attack  on  Fort  Ridgely. 
205;  leads  Indians  in  buttle  of 
Kew  Ulm,  209;  retires  behind 
the  Yellow  ^ledicine,  210;  plans 
ambush  for  Sibley,  218;  takes 
flight  after  battle,  220;  killed, 
238. 

Lochren,  William,  candidate  for 
U.  S.  senator,  297. 

Long,  Major  S.  H.,  examines  site 
for  Fort  Snelling  (1817),  55;  ex- 
pedition to  Pembina,  72;  marks 
international  boundary,  72;  see 
Keating. 

Loras,  Hishop,  visits  Mendota,  83. 

Louisiana,  under  Spanish  rule,  42; 
retroceded  to  France  by  Spain, 
43,  bought  of  France,  43;  de- 
livered to  United  States,  43. 

Lugger,  Dr.  Otto,  investigates  lo- 
custs, 349. 

Macalester  College,  mentioned, 
354. 

Mackinac,  British  garrison  at,  32. 

Mackubin,  C.  N.,  state  senator,  ad- 
vises payment  in  full  of  the 
special  state  bonds,  172. 

McGill,  Andrew  R.,  governor 
(1887-89),  340. 

McGillis,  Hugh,  agrees  to  Pike's 
demands,  51. 

McLean,  Nathaniel,  mentioned, 
97. 

McLeod,  Martin,  bill  for  free 
schools,  90. 

McMillan,  S.  R.  J.,  elected  United 
States  senator  (1875),  297. 

Mcl'hail,  Sanuicl,  leader  of  reliev- 
ing party  at  Birch  Coulie,  214. 

Maine  Law,  137. 

Majority  to  amend  constitution, 
347. 

Marine,  first  American  settle- 
ment (1839).  81. 

Marklc,  Mrs.,  taken  prisoner  and 
killed  by  Inkpaduta,  146. 


374 


INDEX 


Marquette,  at  La  Pointe,  14;  to  ac- 
company Juliet,  IG. 

Marsh,  Capt.  .John  S.,  marches  to 
rescue  of  victims  of  Sioux  mas- 

*  sacre.  200;  drowned  after  battle 
of  Redwood  Ferry,  200. 

Marshall.  William  R. :  defeated  by 
Rice  (1S55),  110;  Republican 
leader,  136;  candidate  for  Con- 
press,  137;  command.s  Seventh 
Minnesota  at  Wood  Lake,  219; 
commands  brigade  at  Xashville, 
245;  brevetted  brigadier,  245; 
leads  Seventh  at  capture  of 
Fort  Blakely,  246;  elected  gov- 
ernor (1865),  254;  vetoes  bill  to 
remove  state  capital  (18C9),  266; 
recommends  oversight  of  corpo- 
rations, 279;  elected  state  rail- 
road commissioner,  284;  recom- 
mends use  of  internal  improve- 
ment lands  for  redemption  of 
bonds,  327. 

Medary,  Samuel,  appointed  terri- 
torial governor,  136 ;  leaves  Min- 
nesota, 155. 

Medawakantons.  country  of,  96; 
see  Sioux  Indians. 

Meeker,  B.  B.,  appointed  territo- 
rial justice,  90. 

Mendota,  first  settlement,  mostly 
French,  81 ;  treaty  of,  96. 

Merriam,  W^illiam  R.,  governor 
(1889-93),  340. 

Merriman,  O.  C,  member  of  spe- 
cial board  of  regents,  259. 

Merritt  Brothers,  explore  for  iron 
358. 

Mesabi  iron  range,  mines  of.  358. 

Militia  companies  form  nucleus 
of  First  Minnesota,  178. 

Militia  law  of  1858,  IGO. 

Mill  explosion  in  Minneapolis 
(1878).  324. 

Miller,  Stejihen,  appointed  colonel 
of  Seventh  Minnesota.  189;  mili- 
tary career,  250;  brevetted  brig- 
adier, 251 ;  elected  governor.  251. 

Minneapolis  and  Cedar  Valley 
Railroad  Co.  chartered,  162. 

Minneapolis,  meaning  of  name, 
131;  founded,  131;  united  with 


St.    Anthony,   131;   absorbs  St. 
Anthony,  275;  a  milling  centre, 
275  ;     increase    of    population, 
1880-85,  .333. 
Minneapolis  Millers'  Association, 

316. 
Minnesota,  meaning  of  word,  1. 

Area  east  of  the  Mississippi 
("Minnesota  East"):  ceded  by 
France  to  England  (1763),  2.  31 ; 
effect  of  proclamation  of  George 
III  (17G3),  36;  operation  of  the 
Quebec  act  of  1774,  37;  claim  of 
Virginia.  37;  becomes  part  of 
the  Northwest  Territory  (1787). 
38;  remains  in  control  of  the 
Northwest  Company  of  Mont- 
real, 39 ;  British  control  ends 
(1815),  52;  part  of  successive  ter- 
ritories, 58;  excluded  from  the 
State  of  Wisconsin  (1848),  86; 
treated  by  Congress  as  the  Ter- 
ritory of  Wisconsin,  86. 

Area  west  of  the  Mississippi 
("  Minnesota  West "):  ceded  by 
France  to  Spain  (1762),  31,  42; 
retroceded  (1801),  43;  bought  of 
F'rance  by  the  United  States  as 
part  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase, 
43. 

As  Territory:  bill  to  organize 
in  1846,  defeated,  88  ;  created 
(1849),  88;  proclaimed,  89;  bound- 
aries  and  area.  89  ;  laws  of 
Wisconsin  remain  in  force,  90 ; 
provisional  counties  and  judi- 
cial districts,  90;  first  census, 
election,  and  legislature,  91; 
capital  located  at  St.  Paul,  91; 
code  of  1851,  91 ;  population,  90, 
120,  149. 

As  State:  enabling  act  (1857), 
133;  boundaries  and  area,  135; 
constitutional  convention  in 
two  bodies,  137;  they  agree  on 
one  constitution,  141;  ratified, 
148;  opposition  in  Congress  to 
admission  to  the  Union,  151; 
admitted,  153 ;  state  officers 
qualified,  157;  latitude  and  lon- 
gitude, 363;  "  Heart  of  the  Con- 
tinent," 3G4;  elevation  and  tern- 


INDEX 


375 


perature,  364  ;  population,  175, 
252,  270,  307,  333,  364. 

MinnesoU  colleges,  353. 

Minnesota  Historical  Society  in- 
corporated, 91. 

Minnesota  River,  course  of,  1. 

Minnesota  state  railroad  adjust- 
ment bonds,  331.  See  Five  mil- 
lion loan. 

Minnesota  troops,  in  Civil  War. 
178,  186,  188,  247;  in  Spanish 
War.  350. 

Minnesotaand Northwestern  Rail- 
road Company,  incorporated 
(1854),  122;  land  praiit  before 
Congress,  123 ;  bill  for  land  grant 
repealed,  125;  act  of  1854  held 
repealed  by  Supreme  Court  of 
United  States,  127. 

Minnesota  and  Pacific  Railroad 
Co.,  chartered,  161 ;  superseded 
by  the  St.  Paul  and  Pacific,  28.".. 

Missions,  first,  in  aMinnesota,  27; 
beginning  of  Chippeway,  64; 
first  to  Sioux,  65;  at  Kaposia, 
68;  Methodist,  at  Redwing,  68; 
Catholic,  at  Lac  qui  Parle  and 
Ch;i.ska,  68;  why  unfruitful,  68. 

Mississippi,  the,  rumors  of,  14; 
discovered  (1673),  16. 

Monopoly  of  markets  forbidden ; 
constitutional  amendment,  346. 

Munch,  Emil,  Captain  of  First 
Light  Hatterj',  187;  wounded  at 
Shiloh,  187;  state  treasurer,  298. 

Natural  history  survey,  303. 

Neal  commission,  114. 

Neill,  Rev.  E.   D.,  draws  bill  for 
free    schools,  91;    chaplain    of  | 
First    .Minnesota,  179;    superin- 
tendent of   public  instruction, 
255. 

Nelson,  Knute,  governor  (1893-95), 
340;  elected  to  United  States 
Senate,  340. 

New  France,  a  royal  province 
(1663),  13. 

New  Uhn,  first  attack  on  by  Sioux, 
201 ;  battle  of,  209. 

NicoHet,  Jean,  ate;  reen  Bay  (1634). 
6;  locates  Lake  Michigan,  6. 


Xicollet,  Joseph  X.,  confirms  work 
of  Schoolcraft  and  Allen,  77, 
discovers  the  "  infant  Missis- 
sippi," 78. 

Nicol.s,  John,  member  of  special 
board  of  regents,  259;  member 
of  state  commission  on  special 
state  railroad  bonds,  326. 

Ninth  Minnesota  Infantry,  at 
Nashville,  244. 

Nix,  Cai)t.  Jacob,  commands  de- 
fense of  New  Ulm,  first  attack. 
201. 

Normal  schools,  establishment, 
257. 

Northern  Securities  Company,  or- 
ganized, 361 ;  dissolution  of,  362. 

Northfield  murders  (1876),  315. 

Northrop,  Cyrus,  president  of 
University  of  Minnesota,  337. 

Northwest  Company,  organiza- 
tion and  policy,  39;  posts  of, 
39. 

Norton,  Daniel  A.,  elected  United 
States  senator,  252;  death,  292. 

Official  year  fixed  by  constitu- 
tional amendment,  345. 

Olmsiead,  David,  mentioned.  110. 

Other  Day,  John,  rescues  whites 
at  ujjper  agency,  201. 

Otis,  fleorge  L.,  defeated  by  Aus- 
tin for  governor,  267. 

Ozawindib,  Schoolcraft's  Chippe- 
way  guide,  76. 

Panic  of  1857,  142;  of  1873,  288. 

Parker,  Kly  F.,  forbids  issue  of 
ChipiK'way  half-breed  scrip,  114. 

Parrant,  Pierre,  mentioned,  82. 

Peck,  Louis,  discovers  cause  of 
mill  oxitlosion,  .'524. 

Pembina,  French  and  half  breed 
town,  84;  treaty  of,  112. 

Perrot,  Nicholas,  at  convocation 
of  1671,  15  ;  buihls  F'ort  St.  An- 
toine,  22;  proclamation.  22. 

Phelps,  William  F.,  organizes 
Winona  Normal  School,  2">7. 

Phelps,  Willi;uu  W.,  seated  as  re- 
presentative from  Minnesota, 
154. 


376 


INDEX 


Picard  du  Oay,  a  title  of  Auguelle, 
companion  of  Accault,  18. 

Pinchon,  trades  on  Minnesota 
River,  32. 

Pike,  /fbiilon  Montgomery,  per- 
sonal appearance,  47;  expedi- 
tion, 47;  treaty  with  the  Sioux, 
48;  at  upper  sources  of  Missis- 
sippi, 50;  asserts  dominion  of 
United  States,  51. 

Pillager  hand  of  Cliippeways,  out- 
break of,  351;  sud'er  injustice, 
352. 

Pillsbury,  C.  A.,  heads  relief  com- 
mittee, 350. 

Pillsbury,  John  S. ,  becomes  regent 
of  university,  25'J;  characteris- 
tics, 304;  governor  for  three 
terms,  304 ;  advises  farmers  how 
to  tight  "hoppers,"  305;  visits 
devastated  counties,  305;  ap- 
points day  of  fasting  aud  prayer 
for  "  hoppers,"  306;  praises 
operation  of  public  examiner 
law,  314 ;  urges  paymCiit  of  "  dis- 
honored bonds,"  330;  regent  for 
life,  332;  death,  332. 

Pine  on  the  St.  Croix,  79. 

Pine  forests,  exhaustion  of,  357. 

Pine  land  operations,  see  Chippe- 
way  half-breed  scrip,  Sioux 
half-breed  scrip. 

Plympton,  Major,  mentioned,  128. 

Pokegama  mission  broken  up,  65. 

Pond  brothers,  first  missionaries 
to  Sioux,  65;  build  on  Lake  Cal- 
houn, 65;  invent  the  Pond  al- 
phabet, G6. 

Pope,  General  John,  takes  com- 
mand of  department  of  the 
northwest,  222;  protests  against 
the  appointment  of  H.  ^I.  Rice 
as  brigadier-general,  223;  pro- 
poses to  exterminate  the  Sioux, 
220. 

Population  of  Minnesota,  in  1849, 
90;  increase  of,  in  Gorman's  .ad- 
ministration, 120;  in  1800,  175; 
in  18&5,  252;  in  1870,  200;  in  1875 
and  1880,  307  ;  in  1880  and  1885, 
333 ;  in  1905,  3f34 ;  1850  to  1905,  365 ; 
Of  the  Twin  Cities,  1905,  3G4. 


Porter,  Edward  A.,  conceives 
school  of  agriculture,  354. 

Prairie  du  Chien  supply  station, 
32;  garrisoned,  .55. 

Presbyterian  church  at  Fort  Snell- 
ing,  67. 

Prescott,  Philander,  teaches  in 
agricultural  school  at  Lake  Cal- 
houn (1839;,  67. 

Primary  elections,  342. 

Prohibitory  liquor  law,  91. 

Public  examiner,  office  created 
(1878),  314. 

Public  lands,  grants  of,  135;  grants 
for  railroads,  143. 

Public  Library  Commission,  363. 

Quebec  act,  the,  37. 
Qumn,    Peter,    killed   by   Sioux, 
201. 

Radisson,  see  Groseilliers. 

Radisson  manuscript  discovered, 
9. 

"  Ragnarok,"  by  Ignatius  Don- 
nelly, 318. 

Railroad  excursion  of  1854,  121. 

Railroads,  land  grant  of  1857, 143; 
four  companies  chartered  (1857), 
143;  five  million  loan  for,  155; 
the  four  land  grant  companies 
of  1S57,  101;  loan  of  credit  to 
the  four  companies,  162 ;  special 
Minnesota  state  railroad  bonds, 
162;  work  stops,  164;  work  of 
the  four  companies,  165;  spe- 
cial bonds  not  regarded  as  state 
obligations,  164;  banking  on 
special  bonds,  166;  special  bonds 
repudiated,  173;  the  four  com- 
panies revived,  173;  they  de- 
fault, 173 ;  they  give  up,  174 ;  four 
new  companies  chartered,  174; 
mileage,  174,  175,  271,  307,  360; 
beginnings  of  construction.  175; 
extension  in  late  '60's,  265;  ex- 
tensions in  '70's,  270;  extend  cul- 
tivation, 272;  welcomed,  276; 
multiply  new  towns,  272;  extor- 
tion and  discrimination,  276; 
ignore  legislation,  230;  state 
commissioner    appointed,   280; 


INDEX 


377 


debts  of  1873,  281 ;  evade  taxes, 
281;  reports  of  slight  service, 
281;  slight  construction,  282; 
finances  in  1873,  282;  failure  of 
companies  (1873),  28:i;  litigate 
right  to  regulate,  282;  state 
board  of  commissioners  created 
(1874),  283;  elective  commis- 
sioner (1875),  284;  grants  and 
gifts,  291;  law  of  1885,  33.5;  com- 
petition of  Canadian,  3G2. 

Ramsey,  Alexander:  antecedents, 
8'J  ;  appointed  territorial  gov- 
ernor, 89  ;  commissioner  for 
Sioux  treaties  (1849),  93;  inves- 
tigation of  his  conduct  in  Sioux 
treaties  (1851),  100;  exonerated 
by  Senate,  101 ;  protests  against 
Rice's  Winnebago  contract,  105 ; 
superseded  as  territorial  gov- 
ernor, 108;  negotiates  Pembina 
treaty,  112;  director  of  Minne- 
sota and  Northwestern  Railroad 
Co.,  126  ;  elected  governor  of 
state,  170  ;  inaugural  address 
(18tMJ),  170;  rescues  the  school 
lands,  171 ;  recommends  settling 
with  holders  of  special  state 
railroad  bonds,  172  ;  reelected 
governor  (18()2),  177;  in  Wash- 
ington on  day  of  attack  on  Fort 
Sumter,  178;  tenders  a  regiment 
of  infantry,  178;  appoints  colo- 
nels, 189  ;  appoints  Sibley  to 
command  the  Indian  expedition, 
211;  elected  United  States  sen- 
ator (1863),  249;  recommends  sale 
of  university  lands  to  pay  debt. 
258;  reelected  senator,  26.". ;  fails 
to  secure  nomination  again,  297 ; 
secretary  of  war,  297;  lays  cor 
ner-stone  of  new  capitol,  298; 
death,  298. 

Ravoux,  Monsignor,  Catholic  mis- 
sionary, 68;  succeeds  Pere  (Jal- 
tier,  83 ;  baptizes  thirty  con- 
demned Sioux,  231. 

Raymbault,  at  Sault  Ste.  Mario 
(1G41),  6. 

Reeve,  Col.  C.  McC,  commands 
Thirternth  Minnesota,  3.50. 

Registration  of  voters,  175. 


Renville,  Joseph,  trader  at  Lac 
qui  Parle,  invites  Dr.  William- 
son, 07;  guide  and  interpreter 
for  .Major  I^mg,  72. 

Keuville  Hangers,  help  defend 
Fort  Uidgely,  205. 

Republican  party,  organized,  136. 

Revised  laws  of  1905,  344. 

Rice,  Henry  M.,  birth  and  educa- 
tion, 1(J2;  in  Indian  trade,  102; 
personal  qualities,  103;  settles 
in  St.  Paul,  103;  his  Winnebago 
contract,  103;  selects  new  homo 
for  Winnebagoes,  103;  elected 
delegate  to  Congress,  107;  in 
Congress,  110;  reelected  dele- 
gate, 110;  secures  issue  of  ad- 
ditional Chippeway  half-breed 
scrip,  113,  118;  director  of  Min- 
nesota and  Northwestern  Rail- 
road Co.,  126;  assists  in  sale  of 
Snelling  reserve,  132;  reelected 
delegate,  136;  introduces  bill  for 
enabling  act,  133;  causes  retire- 
ment of  Governor  Gorman,  136; 
elected  United  States  senator, 
150;  seated  as  senator,  1.53;  de- 
clines to  change  politics,  252; 
defeated  for  governor  by  Mar- 
shall 1186,5),  2.54;  plans  double 
land  grant  for  the  university, 
.301. 

Riggs,  Rev.  Stephen  Return,  joins 
Sioux  mission,  67;  edits  Dakota 
grammar  and  dictionary,  6S; 
escape  from  upper  Sioux,  202; 
chn])lain  of  Sibley's  Indinii  ex- 
pedition, 227;  assists  military 
commission,  227. 

Rocky  Mountain  locust,  scourge 
of,  2;t0;  devastations  of  (1876), 
305;  suddenly  vanish  (1877),  307; 
appear  In  Otter  Tail  County 
(l.S,S6),  349. 

Rolette,  ,Ioseph,  absconds  with 
capital  removal  bill,  132. 

Root  Kiver  and  Southern  Minne- 
sota Railroad  Co.  chartered,  161. 

St.  Anthony's  Falls,  discovered, 
19;  two  hundredth  anniversary 
celebrated,  325. 


378 


INDEX 


St.  Anthony's  Falls,  city  of,  laid 

out  (1847),  84;  united  with  Min- 
iic.'ipolis,  131. 

St.  .I<jliir.s  I'liiver.sity,  mentioned, 
354. 

St.  Lusson,  at  convocation  of 
1671,  15. 

St.  Michel  the  Archangel,  mission 
of,  27. 

St.  I'aul,  Hennepin  at  site  of 
(1680),  19;  Carver  visits  site 
(1767),  34;  first  inhabitant,  82, 
settled  by  evicted  Swiss,  82; 
how  named,  83;  a  French  village 
till  1845, 83 ;  gets  poSt-office  (1846), 
84;  capital  of  territory,  91;  re- 
mains the  capital,  1.32,  265. 

St.  Paul  and  Pacific  Railroad  Co., 
financing  of,  285;  bankruptcy 
of,  308;  sold  to  associates  (1878), 
310;  litigation  following  sale  of, 
311. 

St.  Paul,  Minneapolis  and  Mani- 
toba Railroad  Co.  organized 
1879,  311. 

Saint  Pierre,  Capt.  Legardeur,  at 
Fort  Beauharnois,  27. 

Sanborn,  John  A.,  appointed  colo- 
nel of  the  Fourth  Minnesota, 
184. 

Sandy  Lake  and  post,  40. 

San  Ildefonso,  treaty  of,  43. 

Savanna  portage,  40. 

Sawmill,  near  Menominee.  Wis., 
80;  first  in  Minnesota,  at  Marine, 
81 ;  first  at  falls  of  St.  Anthony, 
84. 

School,  agricultural,  at  Lake  Cal- 
houn, 67. 

School-books,  free,  321. 

Schoolcraft,  Henry  R.,  mineralo- 
gist of  Cass's  expedition,  71; 
narrative  of  same,  71;  exjiedi- 
tion  of  18.32,  75;  at  Lake  Itasca, 
76;  conceals  discovery  in  report 
to  War  Department,  77;  an- 
nounces discovery  in  published 
narrative,  77. 

School  fund,  increase  of,  352; 
may  be  loaned  for  erection  of 
school  buildings,  constitutional 
amendment,   346;    may   be   in- 


vested in  municipal  bonds, 
constitutional  amendment,  348. 

School  of  Agriculture  of  I'ni- 
vfTSity  of  Minnesota,  evolution 
of,  354. 

School  tax,  337. 

Schools,  common,  development  of , 
2.55. 

Second  Battery  of  Light  Artillery, 
187. 

Second  Minnesota  Infantry,  re- 
cruited, 181;  at  Mill  Springs, 
181;  gallant  stand  at  Chicka- 
mauga,  242;  at  Mission  Ridge, 
243. 

Second  Minnesota  Sharpshooters 
at  Antietam,  181. 

Seeger,  William,  impeachment  of, 
298. 

Selkirk,  Earl  of,  plans  colony,  78; 
plants  settlements  in  Canada, 
78. 

Selkirk  colonists  migrate  to  the 
States,  78. 

Selkirk  refugees,  squat  about 
Fort  Snelling,  79;  evicted  from 
Fort  Snelling  reservation,  82; 
settle  at  St.  Paul,  82. 

Seventh  Minnesota  Infantry,  at 
Nashville,  244;  at  Wood  Lake, 
219. 

Seven  Years'  War,  effect  of,  31. 

Sheehan,  Timothy  J.,  recalled  to 
Fort  Ridgely,  200;  commands 
there,  205;  gallantry  at  Nash- 
ville, 245;  U.  S.  marshal,  351. 

Sherburne,  Moses  G.,  appointed 
territorial  justice  (1853),  108; 
presents  plan  of  union  of  two 
factions  of  constitutional  con- 
vention, 139;  reports  constitu- 
tion to  democratic  body,  140. 

Sherman,  Gen.  W.  T.,  speaks  at 
celebration  of  two  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  discovery  of 
the  falls  of"  St.  Anthony,  32;">. 

Sherman,  John,  opposes  the  ad- 
mission of  Minnesota,  1.53. 

Shields,  James,  elected  V.  S.  sen- 
ator, 150;  seated  as  senator.  1.53. 

Sibley,  Henry  Hastings:  birth  and 
education,  59;  arrives  at  Men- 


INDEX 


379 


dota(18»l),  59;  Dakota  name,  60; 
chosen  delegate  by  the  Still- 
water convention,  86;  delegate 
from  Wisconsin  Territory,  87; 
secures  passage  of  act  creating 
Minnesota  Territory,  88;  pro- 
tests against  Rice's  Winnebago 
contract,  105 ;  elected  delegate  to 
Congress  from  Minnesota  Ter- 
ritory, 10");  his  notable  Indian 
speech,  August  2,  1860,  107;  se- 
cures double  land  grants  for 
common  schools  and  for  a  uni- 
versity, 107;  speech  for  reform 
of  Indian  policy,  107;  retires 
from  American  Fur  Company, 
197;  drafts  new  bill  for  land 
grants  to  Minnesota  railroads, 
124;  in  legislature  of  ia55,  126; 
frames  report  on  Minnesota 
and  Northwestern  Railroad,  126; 
draws  memorial  to  Congress 
praying  for  disapproval  of  Min- 
nesota and  Northwestern  Rail- 
road bill,  127;  chairman  and 
president  of  Democratic  end  of 
constitutional  convention,  138; 
elected  first  state  governor,  149; 
sworn  in  as  governor,  157;  inau- 
gural address,  159;  notifies  the 
four  companies  as  to  prior  lien, 
163;  apjiointed  to  command  In- 
dian expedition,  211;  corre- 
si)onds  with  Little  Crow,  216; 
moves  against  the  Sioux,  218; 
commands  in  battle  of  Wood 
Lake,  218;  releases  captives, 
220;  promoted  brigadier-gener- 
al, 222;  appoints  military  com- 
mission, 227;  commands  Sioux 
expedition  of  1863,  234;  in  legis- 
lature of  1871,  favors  payment  of 
bonds  of  isr)8  in  full,  328;  honor- 
ary banquet  to,  339 ;  receives  de- 
gree of  LL.  I).,  339  ;  death,  339. 

Sioux  and  Chippeways  exchange 
murders,  62. 

Sioux  cami)aign  of  1864,  236;  ex- 
pedition of  1K63,  2.34. 

Sioux  half-breed  scrip,  story  of, 
117;  placed  on  iron  ore  pro- 
perties, 119. 


Sioux  Indians:  first  heard  of,  7; 
seen  by  Allouez,  14;  early  habi- 
tat, 44 ;  immigration  of,  44 ;  ch;ir- 
acteristics,  45;  tribes  and  num- 
bers of,  94;  move  to  reserves 
(1853),  120,  167;  uneasy  on  re- 
serves, 167;  become  farmers, 
168;  effect  of  concentration, 
191  ;  character  of  reservations, 
l'.t2;  prey  of  whiskey-sellers.  192; 
disturbances  at  upper  agency, 
194;  delay  of  payments,  195;  sol- 
diers' lodge,  196;  late  arrival  of 
gold,  196;  murders  at  Acton,  197; 
council  at  upper  agency,  201 ; 
depopulation,  203;  losses  in  out- 
break, 211 ;  removal  from  Jlinne- 
sota,  232. 

Sioux  outbreak,  190. 

Sioux  prisoners,  trial  of,  by  mili- 
tary commission,  227;  dispo- 
sition of  principal  body  of, 
228,  232;  maltreated  by  whites, 
228;  protests  against  leniency, 
229;  Bishop  Whipple's  letter  to 
President,  230;  President  Lin- 
coln's scrutiny,  230;  executions, 
231;  mistakes  in  identification, 
231;  become  Christians,  231, 232; 
disposition  of  convicts  not  ex- 
ecuted, 232. 

Sioux  reservations:  granted  in 
treaties  of  1851,  96  ;  annulled  by 
Senate,  1852,  98 ;  ratified  by  In- 
dians, 1853,  98  ;  nevertheless  oc- 
cupied, 167;  permitted  by  Con- 
gress to  be  held,  167  ;  reduction, 
169,  192  ;  forfeited,  232. 

Sioux  treaties:  abortive'treaty  of 
1849,92;  treaties  of  1851.93,  of 
1858,  169,  192;  abrogation  of, 
232. 

Sissetons,  94;^  country  of,  96. 

Sixth  Minnesota  Infantry,  deci- 
mated in  Arkansas,  by  disease, 
246;  at  Wood  Lake,  219;  gallan- 
trj-  at  Fort  HIakely,  246. 

Smith,  Donald  A.,  an  associate  for 
purchase  of  St.  Paul  and  Pacific, 
3(W. 

Smith,  Robert,  gets  lease  at  falls 
of  St  Anthony,  129. 


380 


INDEX 


Snelling,  Col.  Joseph,  takes  com- 
mand, 56  ;  builds  Fort  St.  An- 
thony, 56. 

Soldiers'  Home,  335. 

Source  of  rivers,  the  true,  70. 

Spain  retrocedea  Louisiana  to 
France,  43. 

Special  legislation  forbidden, 
constitutional  amendment,  346. 

Special  state  railroad  bonds,  au- 
thorized, 155;  intended  umploy- 
inent  of,  1G4;  discredit  of,  IIU; 
amount  of  issue,  165,  legislative 
reports  on,  172;  tribunal  for, 
330;  redeemed  (1881),  331. 

Sprmger,  William,  mentioned,  317. 

Spring  wheat,  adapted  to  Minne- 
sota, 273. 

State  agricultural  college,  located 
at  Olencoe,  261 ;  merged  with 
university,  261. 

State  Agricultural  Society,  men- 
tioned, 356. 

State  Art  Society,  363. 

State  Board  of  Charities  and  Cor- 
rections, 334;  Board  of  Health, 
334;  Board  of  Control,  344;  Board 
of  Visitors,  345. 

State  capital,  efforts  to  remove, 
132,  265. 

State  capitol,  burned  (1881),  325; 
rebuilt,  343;  new,  built,  343. 

State  Forestry  Board,  mentioned, 
358. 

State  highway  commission;  con- 
stitutional amendment,  348. 

State  Public  School  for  neglected 
and  dependent  children,  335. 

State  Reformatory,  335. 

Steele,  Franklin,  gives  site  for 
university  preparatory  school, 
144;  defeated  by  Shields  for 
U.  S.  senator,  151. 

Stephen,  George,  takes  an  interest 
in  St.  Paul  and  Pacific  purchase, 
310. 

Stevens,  Rev.  J.  D.,  missionarj', 
opens  school  at  Lake  Harriet, 
66;  pastor  of  Snelling  church, 
67. 

Stevens,  J.  H.,  gets  lease  at  falls 
of  St.  Anthony,  130. 


Stillwater,  laid  out  (1843),  81 ;  con- 
vention, 86. 

Stone,  George  C,  explores  for 
iron  ore,  358. 

Stuart,  Robert,  mentioned,  64. 

Sully,  Gen.  Alfred,  commands  ex- 
pedition, 1863,  23<j. 

Supreme  Court  of  Minnesota  holds 
"  five  million  loan  "  amendment 
of  1860  unconstitutional,  331. 

Supreme  Court  of  United  States, 
validates  Sioux  half-breed  scrip, 
120;  in ol)iter dictum  holds  .Min- 
nesota responsible  for  railroad 
bonds,  329. 

Swift,  Henry  A.,  becomes  gov- 
ernor for  six  months,  249. 

Taliaferro,  Lawrence,  first  Sioux 
agent,  61 ;  opposes  issue  of  indi- 
vidual patents  to  Sioux  half- 
breeds,  117. 

Talon,  intendant  of  New  France, 
13;  orders  post  at  the  Sault,  14; 
plans  expedition  to  the  west, 
15;  chooses  Joliet  to  lead,  16. 

Taxation,  system,  changed  by 
constitutional  amendment,  347. 

Tenth  Minnesota  Infantry,  at 
Nashville,  244. 

Terms  of  office,  337. 

Third  Minnesota  Infantry,  re- 
cruited, 181;  at  Murfreesboro, 
182;  at  Wood  Lake,  219;  in  bat- 
tle of  Fitzhugh's  Woods,  243. 

Thomas,  M.  T.,  appointed  colonel 
of  Eighth  Minnesota,  189. 

Thompson,  David,  on  Turtle  Lake, 
70. 

Tornado,  at  St.  Cloud  (1886),  348; 
in  southern  counties  (1891),  349. 

Traders'  paper,  95. 

Transit  Railroad  Co.,  chartered, 
161. 

Transportation  to  seaboard,  see 
Windom. 

Traverse  des  Sioux,  treaty  of,  95. 

Treaty,  see  Indian  treaties. 

Tweedy,  John  H.,  mentioned,  87. 

Twelfth  Minnesota  Volunteers,  in 
Spanish  War,  350. 

Tyler,  Hugh,  attorney-in-fact,  100. 


INDEX 


381 


University  of  Minnesota,  created, 
144;  land  grant  of  I80I,  144;  first 
board  of  regents,  144;  prepara- 
tory school  of  18r)l,  144;  campus 
purchased  on  credit,  14");  re- 
gents borrowmoney,  145,100,257; 
erect  building,  145;  state  board 
appointed,  175,  258;  state  board 
recommend  sale  of  land,  258; 
Congress  donates  lands  reserved 
in  ia51,  258;  properties  turned 
over  to  state  auditor,  258 ;  special 
board  appointed,  259;  "extrica- 
tion "  by  same,  259;  new  char- 
ter, 2G0;  preparatory  and  aca- 
demic departments  opened,  260; 
novel  plan  of  organization  pro- 
posed by  the  first  president,  the 
author  of  this  book,  300;  first 
commencement,  300  ;  double 
land  grant,  302;  fed  by  high 
schools,  338;  late  prosperity, 
353. 

Van  Cleve,  Horatio  P.,  colonel  of 
Second  Minnesota,  181. 

Van  Cleve,  Mrs.  Charlotte  Ouia- 
consin,  born,  55. 

Van  der  Horclc,  Capt.  John,  com- 
mands at  Fort  Abercrombie.  223. 

Van  Sant,  Samuel  R.,  governor 
(1901-05),  340;  opposes  railroad 
consolidation,  340. 

Verendrye,  Sieur  de  la,  explora- 
tions, 28. 

Vermilion  Iron  Range,  358. 

Vilas,  William  F.,  secretary  of 
state,  endeavors  to  prevent  use 
of  Sioux  scrip,  119. 

Wabashaw  sends  letter  to  Sibley, 
217. 

Wabashaw  reservation,  117. 

Wahpi^kutes,  see  Sioux  Indians. 

Wahpt^tons,  see  Sioux  Indians. 

Walker,  Lucius  C,  Chippewa 
agent,  mentioned,  225. 

Washburn,  William   P.,   declines 
nomination   for  Congress,  2CA 
becomes   nominee   in   1878,  310 
service    as    congressman,    318 
elected  U.  S.  senator,  312. 


I  Washbume,   E.   B.,  reply  to  Ig- 
j      natius  Donnelly,  263. 
I  Weiser,  Dr.  J.  S.,  shot  by  Sioux, 
235. 

Welch,  Major  A.  E  ,  gallantry  at 
Wood  Lake,  219. 

Welch,  William  H.,  appointed  ter- 
ritorial chief  justice,  1853,  108. 

Western  fur-trade  suspended, 
25. 

Wheat  crops  of  1875  and  1880,  307 ; 
grading  and  inspection,  336. 

Whipple,  Henry  Benjamin,  pro- 
tests against  wholesale  execu- 
tions, 229. 

Whitman,  Allen,  report  on  lo- 
custs, 304. 

Wilkin,  Alexander,  defeated  for 
delegate,  1855,  by  Rice,  107;  ap- 
pointed colonel  of  Ninth  Minne- 
sota, 189. 

Wilkinson,  Major  M.  C.,  shot  in 
Pillager  outbreak,  352. 

Wilkinson,  Morton  S.,  elected 
U.  S.  senator,  171 ;  defeated  for 
Senate  by  D.  S.  Norton,  252. 

Williamson,  Miss  Jane,  mission- 
ary work,  67,  233. 

Williamson,  Thomas.  Smith,  mis- 
sionary of  American  Board 
(18a5),  66;  translates  Bible  into 
Dakota,  67;  organizes  the  Hazle- 
wood  republic  at  Yellow  Medi- 
cine, 169;  escapes  from  upper 
Sioux,  202;  ministers  to  Sioux 
convicts,  233. 

Wilson,  Eugene  M.,  elected  M.  C, 
2&4. 

Wilson,  Horace  B.,  state  superin- 
tendent of  public  instruction, 
299. 

Winchell,  N.  H.,  state  geologist, 
303;  reports  on  iron  ore  find 
(1878),  358. 

Windom,  William,  reelected  to 
Congress  (18t?2),  248;  elected  V.  S. 
senator,  2!»2;  personal  qualities, 
202;  report  of,  on  "transporta- 
tion routes  to  the  seaboard,"  292 ; 
defeated  for  rci>k'ction  to  V .  S. 
Senate  (1883),  338;  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  339;  death,  339. 


382 


INDEX 


Winnebagops,  cstal)lished  on  Long 
Prairie  reservation,  104;  stray 
from  reserve,  104 ;  Rice  contract, 
104 ;  moved  to  new  reserve,  near 
Mankato,  120;  removed  from 
Minnesota,  232. 


Woman  suffrape  on  school 
library  measures,  320,  347. 
Wood  Lake,  battle  of,  218. 

Younger  brothers,  315. 


and 


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